Medal of Honor recipients address The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets
November 16, 2011
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
November 16, 2011
CHARLESTON, S.C. – November 16, 2011 – U.S. Army Col. Bruce Crandall (Ret.) and former Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta – both recipients of the Medal of Honor, America’s highest award for combat valor – participated in a day-long series of activities at The Citadel, Tuesday.
The program began at 11:00 with Crandall and Giunta speaking to the freshman and sophomore classes, respectively, at the historic S.C. Military College. The day’s events concluded with public remarks by both men followed by a private evening reception.
Above Photo (l to r): Former Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and U.S. Army Col. Bruce Crandall (Ret.)
This special evening with two of our nation’s most highly decorated soldiers gave the audience a better understanding of the enduring qualities of great leadership that span across the generations of the American experience, said Bo Moore, dean of The Citadel’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Bruce Crandall and Sal Giunta’s examples of leading from the front, doing the right thing on behalf of others during difficult times, and inspiring those around them to the same teach lessons of citizenship that we all should try to remember and embrace.
Crandall, who flew 22 helicopter-rescue missions under heavy enemy fire during the bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, received the Medal in 2007. His actions were featured in the New York Times bestselling book, We Were Soldiers Once…And Young by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and journalist Joseph L. Galloway, as well as the movie starring Mel Gibson which was based on the book.
Giunta, the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, received the Medal in 2010 for his actions wherein he charged into a hailstorm of gunfire and grenades to save the lives of fellow soldiers in his squad who were ambushed by insurgents in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.
The evening’s remarks were moderated by photojournalist Stacy Pearsall, a former U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. and recipient (twice) of the Military Photographer of the Year award.
The public event was co-sponsored by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and The Citadel Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics, and it was made possible with the support of the S.C. State Guard Foundation and the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.
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