1 00:00:07,700 --> 00:00:13,500 (Rose Giunta) I got the phone call, and he was crying; he was upset. And I said, "Can you tell me 2 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:18,690 about it?" And he said it very strong, he says, "I will tell you once, and I won't 3 00:00:18,690 --> 00:00:21,540 tell you again, and don't ask any questions." 4 00:00:21,540 --> 00:00:26,260 So, Steve grabbed the other phone, and we listened to what had happened that day. 5 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:33,020 (Maj. Dan Kearney) We were on a, uh, a large-battalion operation where we were pretty much the main effort. 6 00:00:33,030 --> 00:00:38,309 (Sgt. William Burns) Some of those nights were... it wasn't totally dark, but it was, it was getting dark. The terrain 7 00:00:38,309 --> 00:00:41,100 was in such a case where we had to walk pretty much ducks in a row. 8 00:00:41,100 --> 00:00:44,850 (Staff Sgt. Erick Galladro) There was times we were on all ... all fours, crawling up on hands and knees, crawling up the 9 00:00:44,850 --> 00:00:48,390 terrain, trying to get into position. We knew they wanted to fight, we knew we 10 00:00:48,390 --> 00:00:51,020 were on uncharted territory, somewhere we hadn't been. 11 00:00:51,020 --> 00:00:56,020 (Sgt. Frank Eckrode) Sergeant Brennan, our team leader, he got probably about 10 to 15 meters into the clearing, 12 00:00:56,020 --> 00:01:01,379 and we heard what appeared to be a pop shot at the time. It was just a single shot, probably about a 13 00:01:01,379 --> 00:01:05,820 half second, second later, it didn't take long, the whole 12 opened up on us. 14 00:01:05,820 --> 00:01:11,580 (Kearney) First Platoon, being the lead platoon out, walked right into an L-shaped ambush. 15 00:01:11,580 --> 00:01:17,720 So close that the assets flying above couldn't distinguish between who was bad and who was good. 16 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:19,420 (Burns) I remember our squad leader, he had taken a 17 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:22,619 bullet right through his helmet. It just barely grazed his skin. 18 00:01:22,620 --> 00:01:28,540 (Sgt. Frank Eckrode) I got shot in the stomach, and, then, I also heard my team leader, Sergeant Brennan, say that he'd been hit. 19 00:01:28,540 --> 00:01:31,049 (Burns) I mean, there were RPGs, PKMs. (Eckrode) Around in the 20 00:01:31,049 --> 00:01:36,659 helmet and got shot in the leg. (Kearney) Everybody in that first squad just shot. Sergeant 21 00:01:36,659 --> 00:01:41,970 Giunta sees these guys getting in front of him and immediately starts, you know, 22 00:01:41,970 --> 00:01:46,200 bounding up to their positions after being shot twice in the chest. (Eckrode) He ran 23 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,820 past us. (Spc. Christopher Izell) I didn't know where he went. I don't know why he went. (Capt. Ian McGregor) He fought through 24 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:54,450 the initial wall of lead. (Eckrode) They were dragging Sergeant Brennan away at that 25 00:01:54,450 --> 00:01:59,520 point. (McGregor) He ran through the ambush, engaged three individuals that were running off 26 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:04,049 with Sergeant Brennan's body. (Izell) I mean, they weren't taking on, they were trying to grab 27 00:02:04,049 --> 00:02:08,130 his friend, and he ran out there, and he went after them, and that 28 00:02:08,130 --> 00:02:11,910 made perfect sense why he did that. (Kearney) From what we know, he killed at least one of 29 00:02:11,910 --> 00:02:16,860 the enemy, grabs Sergeant Brennan, makes sure that he's OK, and then drives him back 30 00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:21,540 over to the rest of the platoon that’s still being engaged in combat with the 31 00:02:21,540 --> 00:02:29,700 enemy. When I talked to Sergeant Giunta, you know, one-on-one later on, it was, it was more 32 00:02:29,700 --> 00:02:37,170 or less like, ‘Hey, man, I don't know how you did it. But why did you do it?’ (Rose Giunta) He was saying it 33 00:02:37,170 --> 00:02:39,600 through anger and through lots of sadness. 34 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:44,000 You could tell at the moment that he was telling us that he was actually reliving it. (Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta) I 35 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:51,840 saw two people carrying one person, kind of by the hands and by the feet. But as I 36 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:59,040 ran closer, I kind of realized more what was actually going on, and it was two 37 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:08,160 ACMs carrying Sergeant Brennan, so I had to start shooting. I mean, that, that's what 38 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:14,459 we do. And I grabbed Sergeant Brennan and dragged him back a little bit, but he was 39 00:03:14,459 --> 00:03:18,329 still alive, and he was talking. He was just, was talking about how his face hurt, and 40 00:03:18,329 --> 00:03:23,190 he was shot in his legs, and he was shot in his arms. I just tried to reassure him, 41 00:03:23,190 --> 00:03:28,799 you know, everything's gonna be OK. Everything's fine. (Kearney) The foundation of, of this 42 00:03:28,799 --> 00:03:33,030 family, this, this, this tight-knit group that was forged together in the 43 00:03:33,030 --> 00:03:39,989 blast furnace of combat, he felt like any number of those guys would have done the 44 00:03:39,989 --> 00:03:48,540 same thing for him.(Giunta) I didn't run out to do anything heroic. I ran out to go fight 45 00:03:48,540 --> 00:03:52,380 next to my brother, to go fight next to my friend, who I already served one tour in 46 00:03:52,380 --> 00:03:56,280 Afghanistan with...who we lived in the same barracks building for the last four 47 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:02,460 years. (Kearney) And he probably would have felt worse if he hadn't done it than he did, 48 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:07,440 you know, having to go through there and live through that, that painstaking event 49 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:12,330 and see his friend basically die. (Rose Giunta) They took Josh up in the helicopter, and then 50 00:04:12,330 --> 00:04:16,920 they had a long walk back, and I don't know if it was when they got back or the 51 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:22,380 following day, they, they were told that they lost Josh. And what Sal had told us on 52 00:04:22,380 --> 00:04:27,360 that phone call, he says, “He was alive, Mom. When they took him up, he was alive. I 53 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:34,680 expected to find him alive when I got back.” And, um, that was hard for him. We've not 54 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,250 talked to him again about that day. You know, when we vowed that we weren't, we wouldn’t 55 00:04:38,250 --> 00:04:43,590 ask him questions, so we have his version that he told us through the 56 00:04:43,590 --> 00:04:48,180 tears and the emotions, and then we hear the news through everybody else what 57 00:04:48,180 --> 00:04:52,860 that looked like. (Kearney) It started sounding like some story I had heard about or read 58 00:04:52,860 --> 00:04:56,790 about in World War I or World War II with Audie Murphy. You don't hear about 59 00:04:56,790 --> 00:05:03,570 single individuals taking on the responsibility to lead their squad when 60 00:05:03,570 --> 00:05:08,700 they're a specialist, treat their squad leader after they've been shot three 61 00:05:08,700 --> 00:05:14,550 times, and then, third, go repatriate their best friend from behind enemy lines 62 00:05:14,550 --> 00:05:19,970 that's being dragged away by the enemy, and then to run back into the kill zone, 63 00:05:19,970 --> 00:05:24,550 to start treating his men. (Izell) Never hear anybody doing that on their own. (Izell) I 64 00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:28,060 wouldn't say we were heroes. I would say definitely he was. I definitely say he 65 00:05:28,060 --> 00:05:31,930 was a hero that night. (Burns) No matter what happens the rest of my life, I’ll always 66 00:05:31,930 --> 00:05:36,610 know that I was around the great ones, you know. (Giunta) I remember the friends I lost 67 00:05:36,610 --> 00:05:41,110 every day regardless of any medal. That medal puts me in a position where I'm 68 00:05:41,110 --> 00:05:45,730 able to tell the world about how great Sergeant Brennan and Specialist Mendoza are 69 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:51,270 and just to tell the story of the men that are around me. (President Barack Obama) He is a low-key guy, a 70 00:05:51,270 --> 00:05:58,060 humble guy, and he doesn't seek the limelight. And he'll tell you that he 71 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:03,940 didn't do anything special, that he was just doing his job, that any of his 72 00:06:03,940 --> 00:06:08,020 brothers in the unit would do the same thing. (Giunta) All these, these spotlights right 73 00:06:08,020 --> 00:06:12,550 now are on me, but I wasn't there. I wasn't the only one there that night. I 74 00:06:12,550 --> 00:06:17,350 wasn't, I've never gone into battle alone. I've never been in a gunfight alone. 75 00:06:17,350 --> 00:06:24,220 (Obama) That's why Salvatore Giunta risked his life for his fellow soldiers, because 76 00:06:24,220 --> 00:06:32,050 they would risk their lives for him. That's what fueled his bravery, just the 77 00:06:32,050 --> 00:06:37,419 urgent impulse to have their backs, but the absolute confidence that they had his. 78 00:06:37,419 --> 00:06:43,300 (Giunta) And I hope with all these years I can make that apparent to the world, that 79 00:06:43,300 --> 00:06:47,999 these people go out there and do this every single day, year after year, 80 00:06:47,999 --> 00:06:52,360 deployment after deployment; and it's taxing, but there's that great of people 81 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:57,759 in our country willing to do this, and I hope that if I got the spotlights on me 82 00:06:57,759 --> 00:07:07,860 that I can show the world that there's amazing people out there.