Medal of Honor

"Serving in the military may only last a few years, but it effects the way you live forever" A ordinary man, my husband said those words as he handed me a copy of the AUSA magazine, its cover photo of a headstone at Arlington. The headstone of Ross Andrew McGinnis is extraordinary... the lettering is in gold, and beneath his name is inscribed Medal Of Honor.

I will admit, that as I looked up information about this young man on the internet, I cried several times...I cry every time I hear or see images that tell me another family has suffered a loss. But the loving words of his Army friends, that is what made me emotional...my honey tells me that the perception of being a band of brothers is not unique to any service, that once soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors have experienced the life changing events of combat, they will forever be in a tight knit bond. He has a picture of the men in his platoon in our home, and can recite the name, rank and occupation of every man in the picture, taken nearly 40 years ago...but this is not about him, its about this extraordinary young man.

On a sad day in December 2006, buried in a corner of the major newspapers, if at all, a news item from the US Department of Defense simply stated:

December 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis, 19, of Knox, Pennsylvania., died of injuries on December 4, 2006, suffered when a grenade was thrown into his vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq. McGinnis was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. For further information related to this release the media can contact the 1st Infantry Division public affairs office at 011-49-931-889-6408.

Several days later, it was announced he had been nominated for the Silver Star, which was quickly approved and awarded December 12, 2006.

Ross had been a gunner, standing in the hatch of a vehicle, when the grenade sailed past him, and into the vehicle. Numerous witnesses attest to the fact that young Ross could have simply leaped out of the hatch to safety, but instead yelled “Grenade, its in the vehicle”, and before his fellow soldiers could react, quoting from the citation

“…covered the live grenade, pinning it between his body and the vehicle and absorbing most of the explosion.”

Thus this soldier performed the ultimate sacrifice. His unit felt the Silver Star insufficient for such courage under fire, petitioned the Army to consider his nomination for this nations highest military award. Statements made by his fellow soldiers, such as Army Staff Sgt. Ian Newland surely played their part.

"I saw him jam it with his elbow up underneath him," says Newland, who was sitting inches away. "He pressed his whole body with his back (armor) plate to smother it up against the radios." The heat and flash of an explosion followed, and McGinnis was killed. Hours later, after surgery for shrapnel wounds, Newland realized the enormity of what happened: McGinnis had sacrificed himself to save four other soldiers in the Humvee on Dec. 4. "Why he did it? Because we were his brothers. He loved us," Newland says.

His funeral was December 18, 2006, followed by fully military honors internment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

But this was not the end of the story…soldier dies, solider buried. No, behind the scenes, military staffers wrestled with the facts, and came to the conclusion, this soldier deserved to be treated differently. He didn't’t die simply in combat; he sacrificed himself for his brothers in arms.

After what must have seemed like an eternity to his comrades, the Army(thru an anonymous source to the Army Times) confirmed in April 2008 that a recommendation had gone forward; Ross should be awarded the Medal of Honor.

His friend SSG Newland commented “I think for me to thank him, is to do everything I can to live my life to the fullest,” Newland said. “Because if he can have courage like that, if he can give up his 19-year-old life, then I can live the rest of my life, however long it is, to every day’s fullest.”

In May 2008, award of the Medal of Honor to PFC McGinnis was announced by the White House. It was awarded June 2008.

On order of the Commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, he was posthumously promoted to Specialist, 4th Class.