Salvatore Guinta Signed Autographed 4x6 Photo Medal of Honor Korengal Valley For Sale

At DiligentiaGraphsour focus is to source out the best, authentic items and give you expedient andjust service. Our goal is to deliver a five-star experience through promptshipping and communication. Thank you for viewing our sale and feel free toask any questions.

The items for saleare to honor the veterans who served our nation and to expose their storieswhich might otherwise be lesser known.

Hand signed 4x6 inch photo by Afghanistan vet, Salvatore Guinta.

Shortly after nightfall on October 25, 2007, rifle teamleader Giunta and the rest of the seven troops of 1st Platoon had just finisheda day-long overwatch of 2nd and 3rd Platoon in the valley below. Although dark,there was sufficient moonlight that night vision equipment was not needed. Theywere returning to Combat Outpost Vimoto and Korengal Outpost. They walked about10 to 15 feet (3.0–4.6 m) apart through the thin holly forest, along theGatigal Spur of Honcho Hill at about 2,438 meters (7,999 ft) elevation.

Within 50 to 100 meters (160–330 ft) of leaving theirposition, 10 to 15 insurgents ambushed the main body of the squad from coverand concealment only about 10 meters (33 ft) away, so near that the Apachesoverhead could not provide close air support. The ambushing force was armedwith AK-47 assault rifles, 10 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, and 4belt-fed PKM machine guns. They fired an unusually high proportion of tracerrounds. Giunta described it later:

There were morebullets in the air than stars in the sky. A wall of bullets at every one at thesame time with one crack and then a million other cracks afterwards. They'reabove you, in front of you, behind you, below you. They're hitting in the dirtearly. They're going over your head. Just all over the place. They wereclose—as close as I've ever seen.

Ambush on October 25, 2007 The ambush was initiated withintense RPG and PKM fire Giunta's squad used grenades to suppress enemy fire SergeantJoshua Brennan, leader of Alpha Team and one of Giunta's best friends, waswalking point. He was followed by SPC Frank Eckrode, squad leader ErickGallardo, and then Giunta, who was then a specialist. PFC Kaleb Casey andGarrett Clary followed Giunta. A 13-man Headquarters (HQ) unit led by Lt. BradWinn, including a five-man gun team from weapons squad, along with a nurse whovolunteered for the mission, followed immediately behind them. When the Talibanopened fire, Brennan was struck by eight rounds and Eckrode was hit by fourrounds. Gallardo attempted to sprint forward, but RPGs exploding among the thintrees and 18 inches (46 cm)-high bushes around him along with machine gun andsmall arms fire stopped him. Unable to advance, he fell back to join Giunta'sBravo Team. While backpedaling and firing at the same time, he fell and was inthe same moment struck in the helmet by an AK-47 round. The round penetratedhis helmet but only grazed his scalp. An RPG round struck very near Giunta, whowas returning fire and directing Bravo Team from a small defilade. Giunta waspuzzled that the lip of the small depression he lay in was not protecting himfrom rounds cracking by his head, that they appeared to be coming from thenorth as well as the west.

Giunta saw Gallardo take the bullet to his head and fall.Assuming Gallardo had been shot, Giunta rose and ran through the intense wallof fire to his side. As he helped the uninjured sergeant find cover, theceramic plate in the front of Giunta's protective vest was struck by a bullet.Another round struck the SMAW-D weapon slung over his back. Giunta recognizedthat the extremely heavy tracer fire was coming not just from his west but fromthe north as well, a classic L-shaped ambush that threatened to flank thesquad. He recalled from basic training that to survive an ambush like this hehad only one choice: advance on the enemy. He ordered Casey and Clary to pullback a few steps to prevent the Taliban from flanking them. Casey was firinghis M249 Squad Automatic Weapon cyclic and Clary was firing his M203 grenadelauncher as well.

The platoon leader in the HQ unit, Lieutenant Brad Winn,radioed Captain Kearney to advise him that their unit had five wounded men. Thesquad's medic, Specialist Hugo Mendoza, was among them. He had been shotthrough the femoral artery at the beginning of the ambush and died. Kearneyordered Second Platoon to assist Winn's platoon, but Second Platoon was in thevalley below, some distance away, and had to first cross a river to reach them.

Giunta and Gallardo gathered Casey and Clary. They werepinned down by the concentrated small arms and cyclic machine gun fire from anumber of Taliban positions at close range. Less than 15 seconds into theambush, Giunta and the others disruptedthe attack by throwing volleys of fragmentation grenades towards the Talibanabout 15 meters (49 ft) to their west and attacked north. Firing PFC Casey'sM249, Clary's M203, and their other weapons, they advanced until they reachedEckrode. Shot twice in one leg and with two other wounds, Eckrode was attemptingto unjam his M249 SAW. Gallardo, who later received a Silver Star for hisactions, dressed Eckrode's wounds and called for medevac.

Giunta, seeing that Eckrode was tended to, advanced with PFCClary through the intense enemy gunfire, looking for Brennan. When they couldnot locate him where they expected to find him, Giunta ran further forwardthrough the effective small arms fire and over the exposed, open crest of theridge. Giunta saw three individuals and then recognized that two of them wereAfghans dragging Sgt. Brennan, one by the legs and one by his arms. Giuntapursued them, firing his M4 carbine as he ran, killing one (later identified asMohammad Tali, considered a high-value target) and wounding the other. Thesecond Afghan dropped Brennan and fled. An AC-130 gunship shortly afterwardspotted someone carrying Brennan's rucksack and killed him. Giunta said,"I ran through fire to see what was going on with [Brennan] and maybe wecould hide behind the same rock and shoot together ... He was still conscious.He was breathing. He was asking for morphine. I said, 'You'll get out and tellyour hero stories,' and he was like, 'I will, I will.'"

After reaching Brennan, Giunta pulled him back towards therest of the squad and cover, comforted him, and examined him for wounds in thedark. Brennan was grievously hurt. The 2nd and 3rd Platoons arrived toreinforce 1st Platoon and render aid. Giunta continued to assist the medic andadjust security while they waited for evacuation.

The ambush had lasted three minutes. Later the next day, Brennandied while in surgery. Gallardo told Giunta later on, "You don'tunderstand ... but what you did was pretty crazy. We were outnumbered. Youstopped the fight. You stopped them from taking a soldier." Eckrode saidof Giunta, "For all intents and purposes, with the amount of fire that wasgoing on in the conflict at the time, he shouldn't be alive."

Shipping is donewithin 24 hours of received payment. We ship our items in 6X9 envelopes, sentfirst class with tracking and well packed. We do our best to accommodatespecial shipping requests as needed.

We do accept returnswithin 14 days that has been communicated and approved. We have a 15% fee onitems that are restocked and do pay for return shipping. Refunds are given onceitems are returned in original condition.

On all of our solditems we donate a percentage of profits to the Wounded Warrior project and toWorld War II museum in New Orleans, LA.