How does the Commander-in-Chief mix these heroes up? He put that medal around Giunta's neck and he stood with Monti's parents as they grieved. These fallen heroes leave such a great legacy, and we should know all their names. The ironic part of the speech, and this comes after the announcement of the politically pressured drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, was Obama's closing remark, "Know that your Commander-in-Chief has your back."
Trouble is, however, SFC Monti did, in fact, receive the award posthumously in 2009, three years after he was killed in Afghanistan in 2006. Obama did award the Medal of Honor to a living Army service member, Sal Giunta, a staff sergeant in another Army unit, the 173rd Airborne Brigade.