The cable news networks carried live coverage this afternoon of the ceremony awarding the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, the first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam war.
Giunta’s story of “gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life,” for which the medal is awarded, was told by Lara Logan on “60 Minutes” this past Sunday. NBC’s Brian Williams, who is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, interviewed Giunta at the White House yesterday with the story running on “Nightly News” last night. ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz interviewed Giunta over the weekend. “That day,” Giunta told Raddatz, “was like any other day in Afghanistan.”
“But honestly, to tell the story about that day hurts me. It hurts to kind of go into it. But I can tell you there are American soldiers from all around the United States of America fighting for the United States with immense bravery.”
Another living recipient of the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award, is Army Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.) (right) who was presented his award for going “above and beyond the call of duty” on the battlefied in Vietnam, March 9, 1968. Jacobs has been an NBC News/MSNBC military analyst for most of the last decade. He was a part of MSNBC’s coverage today.