Medal of Honor winner Sal Giunta speaks at the state capitol. (file photo)
The Iowan who was awarded the Medal of Honor last November is now a college student, occasionally traveling the country to give paid speeches.
Sal Giunta, a Hiawatha native, was awarded the military’s highest honor for his bravery during combat in Afghanistan. He has left the military. He chose not to re-enlist in June. Giunta is now a student at Colorado State University.
In addition, Giunta is a client of the Washington Speakers Bureau. It’s an agency that books speaking engagements for its clients. The agency’s list of clients includes just-retired Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Obama advisor David Axelrod. The firm has posted a video of Giunta on its website.
“The biggest turn in my life happened the day that I received the Medal of Honor and I was no longer representing Sal Guinta, but I was representing all the men and women in uniform — not just today, but yesterday and tomorrow,” Giunta says in the video. “And I think out of all the things in my life that has changed it in the biggest new direction overnight.”
Giunta was the first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War. The Washington Speakers Bureau website calls Guinta “a true American hero” and the agency says Giunta “shares with audiences the importance of teamwork, sacrifice and leadership in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
In late spring, Giunta and his wife moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where Colorado State University is located. He told a newspaper in Pueblo, Colorado, that he plans to study resource management.