American Hero

[202typical]

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday presented the nation's highest military award to a 19-year-old soldier who died saving the lives of four comrades in Iraq by jumping on a grenade tossed into their military vehicle.


The honored soldier, Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis, "gave all for his country," the president said somberly.

"No one outside this man's family can know the true weight of their loss. But in words spoken long ago, we are told how to measure the kind of devotion that Ross McGinnis showed on his last day: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'"

The president spoke in the East Room at a ceremony attended by Vice President **** Cheney, prior recipients of the Medal of Honor, military leaders, McGinnis' parents, Tom and Romayne, and his two sisters, Becky and Katie. The four soldiers protected by McGinnis' actions were all in attendance.

McGinnis was in the gunner's hatch of a Humvee on Dec. 4, 2006, on a patrol in Iraq, when a grenade sailed past him and into the vehicle where the four other soldiers sat. He shouted a warning, then jumped on the grenade while it was lodged near the vehicle's radio.

"By that split-second decision, Private McGinnis lost his own life, and he saved his comrades," Bush said.

McGinnis grew up in the rural town of Knox, Pa., about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

He enlisted in the Army after some struggles in school. Friends and family say they were watching him transform into a man.

Bush called him a regular guy, a dependable friend with a big heart and a carefree spirit. He also had a robust sense of humor, as was known as the only one in boot camp who could make his drill sergeant laugh, the president said.

As a military aide read the formal citation of McGinnis' honor, Bush gave the late soldier's mom a smile. When the audience rose and offered an ovation, Bush gave Mrs. McGinnis a kiss on the cheek and shook her husband's hand.

The president said it was a high privilege for him to present the Medal of Honor, recognizing valor beyond anything that duty could require.

"May the deep respect of our whole nation be a comfort to the family of this fallen soldier," Bush said. "May God always watch over the country he served, and keep us ever grateful for the life of Ross Andrew McGinnis."





"Thanks climate PhD 202" - TFinalshot Feb-05-08, 02:16 PM (MST)

 

[202typical]

PFC Ross A. McGinnis, Medal of Honor Recipient.

Spc. McGinnis? dedication to duty and love for his fellow Soldiers were embodied in a statement issued by his parents shortly after his death:

?Ross did not become our hero by dying to save his fellow Soldiers from a grenade. He was a hero to us long before he died, because he was willing to risk his life to protect the ideals of freedom and justice that America represents. He has been recommended for the Medal of Honor? That is not why he gave his life. The lives of four men who were his Army brothers outweighed the value of his one life. It was just a matter of simple kindergarten arithmetic. Four means more than one. It didn't matter to Ross that he could have escaped the situation without a scratch. Nobody would have questioned such a reflex reaction. What mattered to him were the four men placed in his care on a moment's notice. One moment he was responsible for defending the rear of a convoy from enemy fire; the next moment he held the lives of four of his friends in his hands. The choice for Ross was simple, but simple does not mean easy. His straightforward answer to a simple but difficult choice should stand as a shining example for the rest of us. We all face simple choices, but how often do we choose to make a sacrifice to get the right answer? The right choice sometimes requires honor.?

His unit deployed to Eastern Baghdad in August 2006, where sectarian violence was rampant. Ross was serving as an M2 .50 caliber machine gunner in 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment is support of operations against insurgents in Adhamiyah, Iraq.

According to the official report, on the afternoon of Dec. 4, 2006, McGinnis? platoon was on mounted patrol in Adhamiyah to restrict enemy movement and quell sectarian violence. During the course of the patrol, an unidentified insurgent positioned on a rooftop nearby threw a fragmentation grenade into the Humvee. Without hesitation or regard for his own life, McGinnis threw his back over the grenade, pinning it between his body and the Humvee?s radio mount. McGinnis absorbed all lethal fragments and the concussive effects of the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was a private first class at the time, was posthumously promoted to specialist.





"Thanks climate PhD 202" - TFinalshot Feb-05-08, 02:16 PM (MST)

 

[tageater]

Thanks for posting 202.....what a touching story!

 

[manny15]

WOW!