reporter: followed by weir and one other soldier, bellavia went back in to the pitch-black house.ee of the enemy and wounded a fourth. >> he just rolled and tore up the stairs. >> reporter: so now you have to go up the stairs after him. >> this guy is hurt. and i like my chances with a guy that is hit repeatedly and he is bleeding. i could see the blood. >> reporter: the official army account says bellavia silenced the wounded fighter. so how did you silence him? >> i hit him with my helmet, hit him with everything i could. >> reporter: you have taken your helmet off. >> all i could think of if i hit this guy enough times with my helmet. >> reporter: the rest of what happened is as savage as combat get, and bellavia put it all in his book. >> reporter: if this is a movie, it's truly graphic. >> if it's war that's what it should be. >> reporter: bellavia became the first living soldier to receive the medal of honor for his actions in iraq. >> my word has always been that i'm alive and i'm home. and that's the greatest thing in the world to have. >> reporter: and here is something e

the library received thousands impse ise,f honoeek to catch a recipient david bellavia. >> to me, whatd was the constitution of the united states, and this declaration was really the precursor to getting that fundamental document we all swear an oath to. it's a very special moment as a soldier to see the document that started the entire making of the united states. >> reporter: jericka duncan, cbs news, new york. >> ninan: next on the "cbs weekend news," she's the springsteen starring off the stage. my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away mage or severe stomach pain. serious side effects

army staff sergeant david bellavia.awarded the congressional medal of honor for his heroic actions in fallujah, iraq. sergeant, an honor to have you with us. good morning. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. >> we were just talking about you being a buffalo bills fan and that requires an optimism that's built into you. >> listen, the army is responsible for where i'm here, but the -- you know, tim russert and the buffalo bills that is what we live -- that's what we live for. >> it prepared you for all this. we were just i love for. >> we were discussing during the break. you didn't know this was coming. were you stunned to get the phone call? >> absolutely. we are so used to people empers impers impersonating the president. when the phone rings and it is the president of the united states. i was shocked. i was humbled. this represents more than one day in action. we lost five guys in that battle of fallujah. having the opportunity to bring 32 of your soldiers to the white house, five gold star families. >> your

david: president trump awarded the medal of honor to army veteran david bellavia. the only living iraq war vet to receive that honor and he joins us now. staff sergeant, i can't tell you what a great honor it is to talk to you. thank you very much for being here. appreciate everything you've done in your whole life. you know, this is something that is tough to talk about, but sometimes heroes have a very tough time being designated as heroes. they feel that the real heroes were left behind. do you have any of that inside of your conscience? >> i don't, because i belong to part of a fraternity that has about 800,000 heroes, the united states army. and my unit, you know, these are men who literally sacrificed their lives. we lost four guys in fallujah but they did it for me, they did it for my brothers. this was a unit that literally bled for each other every single day. it's awkward to get the recognition but it's incredible to share that recognition with all the men of our company. david: what a great, great attitude. that's the best way i have ever heard it put. i

medal of honor recipient david bellavia at the yankees game in new york. game. that was steve's friend. there i am, posing in front of the flag. that was in the owner's box, the wilpon's box. pete: betsy ross flag in the owners box? ed: best part, i was wearing yankees cap and shirt in the met's owners box. i had to do that. they were kind. secondly meeting david, a great honor. what a great proud american. he was so humbled, humbled. he is amazing. pete: make it about the guys they served with. brought his whole squad and platoon. i, if you go to "fox nation" on this independence day, medal of honor's exclusive. it is an hour. the guy with david, the most vivid they heard him talk about that day ever. november 10th, 2004, when he was alone in a house with five terrorists trying to kill him. he came out alive. ed: he is so soft-spoken. you wouldn't think the man had done amazing things. so humble. soft-spoken. jedediah: guys that step up to the plate when you need them most. they are soft-spoken, but at the moment -- ed: well done, david. pete: this indepe