I can tell you there are tens of thousands of American paratroopers, both exes and active, who are filled with pride tonight after the announcement that one of our own, Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, will be the first living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor from the Iraq or Afghan wars. There is a long history of exceptional valor among those warriors who have volunteered to jump from airplanes. I have been fortunate to know so many of these old and young warriors, from the original American paratroops, the hard case World War II veterans who were my sergeants major and battalion commanders when I was a young trooper back in the late ‘50’s right up until I finally retired from military marketing a few years ago. Returning from my tour with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1966, I was assigned to a brigade headquarters of the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. My roommate was Staff Sergeant Charles Morris,...(Read Full Post)