Stars and Stripes|by Leo Shane III and Megan McCloskey

WASHINGTON — Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, a Soldier who risked his life to stop Taliban fighters from kidnapping a fallen comrade, will be the first living U.S. servicemember from either Iraq or Afghanistan to receive the Medal of Honor, White House officials announced Friday.

President Barack Obama spoke with Giunta on Thursday to inform him of the award and thank him for “his service and extraordinary bravery in battle.”

Giunta, whose story was featured in the recently published Sebastian Junger book “War,” was serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment during combat operations in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in 2007.

On Oct. 25 that year, then-Spc. Giunta’s squad was ambushed by insurgents and two Soldiers were cut off from the rest. White House officials said in the initial moments of the firefight Giunta ventured out into enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover.

“Everything kind of slowed down and I did everything I thought I could do, nothing more and nothing less,” Giunta, now 25, told Junger. 

Giunta and two other Soldiers assaulted the enemy position with grenades to move forward and link up with the two seperated Soldiers, one of whom was Sgt. Joshua Brennan. When Giunta sprinted to where to he thought Brennan would be, he saw two enemy fighters dragging him down the hill. Giunta fired his M4 and ran after them, killing one insurgent and forcing the other to drop Brennan and run away.  

Army officials say Giunta provided medical aid to his comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security. Brennan later died, but Giunta’s actions prevented his body and equipment from falling into enemy hands.

One other Soldier died that day, and five were wounded.

“I didn’t’ run through fire to save a buddy,” Giunta told Junger. “I ran through fire to see what was going on with him and maybe we could hide behind the same rock and shoot together. I didn’t run through fire to do anything heroic or brave. I did what I believe anyone would have done.”

Brennan’s father told his hometown newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal, that Giunta has expressed hesitation about receiving such an honor.

“Not only did he save Josh, so that we were able to have him back and have an open coffin at the funeral, he really saved half of the platoon,” he said.

No date has been set for his award ceremony.

The news comes a day after the White House announced that Staff Sgt. Robert Miller would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan in 2007.

Women veterans from all branches of the military are invited to the fourth annual Wisconsin Women Veterans Conference, being held Oct. 22-24 at the Wisconsin Military Academy at Fort McCoy. The conference will feature women-only workshops on combat-related trauma and military sexual trauma, as well as bio-feedback training. Lectures are planned on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, suicide prevention and changes to women’s health care through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. For more information, visit the Wisconsin Department of Veterans’ Affairs website or telephone the WDVA at 800-947-8387.

Army News Service|by Rick Wood

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Slightly shaking, eye’s filled with sorrow, Dan Graham’s finger’s traced the name of his son, Spc. Kevin Graham, one of the 41 fallen 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division’s Soldiers names now etched in stone at Puyallup Veteran’s Memorial at Pioneer Park.

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” said Graham, who along with his wife Sandy made the trip from Kentucky to attend the unveiling. “It seems like the appropriate thing to do.”

Earlier the couple spent some time with 5th Brigade Soldiers who had known Kevin, he said.

“It means a lot to us to see him honored this way,” Graham said. 

Thousands of people gathered to honor and remember those whose names are carved into the memorial, including the family of Pfc. Jacob Dennis, the most recent name added.

Second Brigade (formerly 5th Brigade) Commander Col. Barry Huggins said the monument to the brigade’s Soldiers would help heal wounds and bring some closure.

“To some, the Soldier is an impressive figure; square-jawed, barrel-chested, festooned with ribbons, resolute – but the truth is, soldiering can be an uncertain business, and Soldiers are full of questions,” Huggins said.

Soldiers in combat are sometimes left wondering why some events happen and what it means to lose friends and comrades, he said.

“Amidst all this uncertainty, it means a lot to a Soldier to have a touchstone, a rock, something to believe in,” Huggins said. “It may be family, or faith, or your buddies. For the returning veterans of the 5th Brigade, and those of us who bear their legacy going forward – this memorial, and the people of Puyallup, are a rock.”

It is a tremendous comfort to know that someone cares, he said.

“These families who have lost so much can never be made whole; but they can take some small comfort in the fact that somewhere – that right here, in Puyallup – someone cared enough to memorialize their Soldier,” Huggins said. “The leaders, and civic organizations, and the veterans, and the citizens of this wonderful city do care – and that’s a nice piece of certainty.”

As wreaths were laid at the memorial, families, community members and friends watched the solemn procession.

Beneath the veil of a large American flag hoisted into the air by a fire truck, loved ones and supporters listened as the names of the fallen were read aloud.

Puyallup Mayor Kathy Turner said the community is happy the brigade has returned and that Puyallup is proud to honor the Soldiers and their families.

“On behalf of the City of Puyallup, we welcome you home,” Turner said.

Every loss the unit suffered hit home with tremendous sorrow, she said.

“The first person killed in the Iraq war was Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Chapman of Puyallup,” Turner said. “From that day forward Puyallup stepped up to support our soldiers at war.

The City of Puyallup Subchapter of the Association of the United States Army supported the brigade by sending Christmas care packages and letters, and by attending the memorials of those who were killed, she said.

© Copyright 2010 Army News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Iraq veteran Tim Wymore spends most of what he believes are his last days worried about what will become of his family.

He has three lesions on his brain, another on his eye. He suffers from a blood disorder, a damaged esophagus and abdominal problems that led to the removal of most of his colon. He can barely stand, and then only with the aid of a cane.

He is 44 years old.

Wymore, of St. Charles, is one of several hundred veterans across the country who have filed lawsuits contending that dangerous toxins from open-air burn pits operated on U.S. military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan made them sick. Last week, a federal judge ruled the case could proceed. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that Wymore’s health problems are war-related.

But the VA believes his condition may improve. Because of that, the VA has yet to declare Wymore permanently disabled. As a result, his family is not eligible for many benefits. Those include medical insurance for his wife and college costs for their three sons. Also, Wymore worries that should he die, the VA will not pay a survivor’s benefit to his wife unless she can prove his death is directly related to his military service, a challenge he doesn’t want to put her through.

“I took the oath and did what was asked of me,” he said. “Now, I feel it’s time for the military to do their part. I’m tired of fighting them.”

Wymore’s wife, Shanna, quit her job to care for him full time. For now, the couple survive on his Social Security and military disability payments and the charity of others. The lawsuit is no guarantee of a financial payoff.

The VA has told the couple they will review Wymore’s disability rating in 2012 to see whether his condition has improved. The couple fear that could be too late.

“We’ve gone so far downhill so fast I don’t want to see what another six months will look like,” Shanna Wymore said.

Off to Iraq

Tim Wymore grew up in Arnold, graduated from Fox High School, then served three years’ active duty with the Air Force. He met Shanna while home on leave between basic training and his first duty station. They married two weeks later and have been together 25 years.

After active duty, Wymore joined the Missouri Air National Guard. He served with the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport driving trucks and forklifts, and offloading planes.

In civilian life, Wymore made good pay as a tool and die maker. Shanna, 43, sold industrial tools and supplies, and worked part time at a convenience store and as a real estate agent.

The couple worked hard and were on track to retire at age 50.

Wymore was surprised he was sent to Iraq; only five members of his unit deployed. He was stationed at Balad, one of the largest American military bases. Each week, he made several trips to the base burn pit, often driving his truck to the edge to unload anything he’d been ordered to dispose of — from tents to trash to air conditioners. Five football fields long and 300 feet deep, the pit spewed thick black smoke continuously.

“They didn’t even give us paper masks,” Wymore recalled.

Fumes lingered over the sprawling base. Wymore said he inhaled them in his trailer at night.

“You’d wake up to that taste in your mouth,” he said.

Even now, he sits in the shower in the morning with his mouth open to rid himself of the bitter, metallic taste.

During his six-month tour, Wymore complained of headaches, stomachaches and trouble breathing. “Everybody got the same medicine,” he said. “800 milligrams of ibuprofen.” 

Wymore said he knew at the time he probably was sacrificing his health. When he left Iraq in 2005, he demanded that his burn pit exposure be included in his medical records. 

“I was worried,” he said. “I knew down the road something was going to happen, but not this soon.”

Back home, his health declined. He required emergency surgery to remove an infection in his stomach, battled pneumonia and was in and out of the hospital. He began blacking out at work and eventually could no longer do the job.

About a year and a half ago the couple turned to the VA for help. Doctors determined he suffered from post-traumatic stress, but had no answers about his physical problems. They ordered more tests. Still, no one could provide a definitive diagnosis.

Unknown to the Wymores, other veterans across the country were coming forward to complain of similar health problems, including cancers, respiratory disease and skin disorders.

Eventually, the Wymores joined veterans or their survivors in 42 states in filing lawsuits against Kellogg Brown & Root, the military contractor that operated many of the burn pits.

On Thursday, a federal judge in Maryland, where the lawsuits have been consolidated, ruled the case could go forward despite KBR’s contention it was following the military’s orders and bore no legal burden. The lawsuit contends the pits contained a poisonous mixture of plastics, metals, paints, solvents, medical waste and other products that caused severe illness.

Jon Gelman, a New Jersey attorney representing some of the troops, said he believed as many as 30,000 to 40,000 veterans might have been affected by the burn pits.

“It is going to have a devastating impact on our medical system to treat these soldiers. They start out as mystery illnesses and then blossom into conditions, just like Agent Orange,” Gelman said, referring to the herbicide that sickened many Vietnam veterans. “We have a real tragedy ongoing.”

As far back as 2006, an Air Force study warned that the size and proximity of Balad’s burn pit to troops’ quarters made it “an acute health hazard.”

Since then, the Department of Defense has ordered a review of the burn pits and Congress has passed legislation limiting their use. Many are being replaced with incinerators that are more expensive to operate. The Balad burn pit was extinguished late last year, more than four years after Tim Wymore first complained.

Earlier this year, the VA notified its employees that burn pits should be considered as potential health risks in veterans’ claims. The VA also is paying the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine to conduct a study on the long-term health effects from burn pit exposure. The study is to be completed in May.

A hostile system

The Wymores continue to fight the VA over benefits and Tim’s medical care.

In August, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, wrote a complaint letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

“For nearly a year, as her husband’s health continued to deteriorate, [Shanna] has fought an indifferent and sometimes hostile veterans medical system that has made giving her the runaround an art form,” Akin wrote.

The VA said in a statement Friday that it was continuing to review the case.

Tim Wymore used to love to ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Now, he passes the time sleeping and watching television. Sports, mostly. He wishes the Cardinals were playing better. He’s heavily medicated, and his eyes often remain closed during conversations. Occasionally, he coughs.

“Some really gunky stuff,” he said.

On Thursday, workers installed a stairway lift in the couple’s home, eliminating a daily struggle that left both Tim and Shanna breathless.

The couple once looked forward to an active retirement, traveling and playing softball with their sons, Tim, 24; Ben, 21; and Cody, 18. Now they are almost broke.

Shanna lost her insurance and now forgoes the monthly $500 prescription to treat her Lyme disease. Their house is about to be foreclosed on.

“This is the life I live. I’m losing everything,” Shanna said. But she isn’t going down without a fight.

In the dining room, her stacks of paper sit on the table and spread across the floor. Two open suitcases are jammed with more documents. She’s determined to learn as much as she can about what is killing her husband. She would like to see experts brought together and a hospital established to treat burn pit victims. She wants to pass on everything she’s discovered.

“I’m not going to stop,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m afraid if I stop, he’ll give up. There’s got to be an answer.”

© Copyright 2010 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.