U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta (left) talks with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates prior to the Medal of Honor presentation ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16, 2010. Giunta received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, for rescuing two members of his squad during an insurgent ambush on his platoon in Afghanistan's Korengal valley in October 2007. He is the first living recipient of the medal since Vietnam.