WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The first living soldier since the Vietnam War to win the Medal of Honor tells CBS the award makes him uncomfortable.
In an interview with "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta says he is "not at peace" with what happened during an October 2007 firefight in Afghanistan in which he risked his life to stop the enemy from abducting an injured U.S. soldier.
"I don't think I did anything that anyone else I was with wouldn't have done. I was in a position to do it. That was what needed to be done. So I did it," Giunta said of his experience in the Korengal Valley with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Enemy chatter on the radio about the death of one of Giunta's squad members and talk about capturing a U.S. soldier readied Giunta for the firefight that would ensue the following day, Oct. 25, 2007.
"Everything, everything happened," Giunta said of the ambush. "The world happened in that next step. Tracers, bullets, RPGs, explosions, wings, zings, tings, snaps, pops, cracks. If we could have done it, we would have done it to them. It was perfectly done."
President Barack Obama will present the medal to Giunta Tuesday at a White House ceremony.
