SPC Ross A. McGinnis

SPC Ross A. Mcginnis (SPC. Ross A. McGinnis. Photograph. Http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-photos/3459.jpg.)

Have you ever had something that you loved so much you were willing to do anything to protect it? SPC Ross A. McGinnis did and he made the ultimate sacrifice. Ross A. McGinnis was born in a town 90 miles north of Pittsburgh called Knox, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 1987. He and his family moved to Pittsburgh when he was three. He had two sisters and a mother and father. When McGinnis was in kindergarten, he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and without hesitation he said “an Army man” and he held on to that dream for the rest of his life. When he was very young he became very involved with boy scouts, but he left the program before getting to the rank of Eagle Scout. In high school he was a very talented athlete, and was part of the Concert Choir, his best Sports were Basketball and Baseball and enjoyed working on cars. In 2005 he graduated Keystone Jr. /Sr. high school. Then he briefly attended the Clarion Country Career Center and became a very gifted mechanic. On his 17th birthday he enlisted in the army through the delayed entry program. On June 8th 2005 he left for six weeks of basic training followed by 6 weeks of advanced infantry training. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany. Where he met the “love of his life,” Cristina Wendel. McGinnis was then deployed in July 2006 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

SPC McGinnis in Gunners Hatch (Ross McGinnis13. Photograph. Http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jksu5DxMK60/TEThYyOOeMI/AAAAAAAAC4U/wddldPJ2ytE/s1600/ross_mcginnis13.jpg.)

Everyone who met McGinnis said that he was a great kid. He was the youngest soldier in the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, and was very skinny but had the moral strength of 10. Soldiers he had fought with described him as an amateur mechanic that liked poker and loud music. PFC. Brennan Beck (a friend of McGinnis’s from his battalion) described McGinnis as being able to make others feel better “he would go into a room and when he left everyone was laughing……he was quick witted, just hilarious…. He was a comedian through and through.” Beck also said “he loved it here in Iraq. He loved being a gunner. It was a thrill; he loved everything about it, he was one of our best soldiers. He did a great job.” McGinnis loved being in Iraq because he truly loved his country and loved being able to serve it and protect its freedom. Since McGinnis had only been in combat for around a year he didn’t get a chance to make a real statistical impression, with the exception of a battle where he and his company took out 50 insurgents. Also in training, McGinnis tested and was qualified as an expert left handed sharpshooter and was one step below becoming an expert right handed shooter when he was deployed to Germany. One of the biggest things that Beck remembers is how important friends and family were to McGinnis. “When I had my appendix removed, he was the only one who visited me in the hospital,” Sgt. Maj. William Johnson one of McGinnis’s commanding officers said. “Any time you get a soldier to do something like that – to give his life to protect his fellow soldiers – that’s what heroes are made of.”

US Army Medal of Honor (Medal of Honor. Photograph. Http://www.history.army.mil/images/moh/moh.jpg.)

On December 4, 2006, McGinnis and the rest of the Charlie Company began a mission to find a suitable place for a generator so electricity could be brought to the people of an Iraqi town. Even though they knew it was a risky bet going to some of the places they went to, they did and one time, while en route in a convoy, a terrorist from overhead through a grenade at SPC. McGinnis. McGinnis tried to intercept the grenade to avoid it going into the HUMVEE but was unsuccessful and it fell into the HUMVEE. McGinnis could have easily jumped out of the gunners hatch to safety but instead without any hesitation he yelled “GRENADE, It’s in the truck!” and dove on the grenade and pinned it to the ground just as it exploded. He died instantly, but saved the lives of the four other men in the HUMVEE. For his actions he was posthumously awarded the Bronze star, the Silver Star. And the highest award in the Armed Forces of the United States : The Medal of Honor. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery in section 60 site 8544. He was 19.

There are many reasons that Ross A. McGinnis is my hero, but I would have to say the one that stands out the most is the absolute sense of selflessness and loyalty and sacrifice. He sacrificed his life to save his friends and to protect his country. He was willing to do what a slim few are wiling to do, make the ultimate sacrifice. He did it for the things he loved the most in life : his friends and his country. The thing that makes his heroic action even more honorable and admirable is the fact that he could have saved his life and be alive right now but he didn’t. He was willing to make the Ultimate Sacrifice. SPC Ross A. McGinnis is also my hero because one day I plan to serve in the armed forces and he is such an inspiration to all soldiers. Everyone always talks about super soldiers who have over a hundred kills and are incredibly strong and tough. In my opinion SPC Ross A. McGinnis is the Ultimate super soldier. The greatest heroic Quality is Sacrifice. All of the greatest heroes in history have it. Because Sacrifice is necessary, as said by Sam in the movie Transformers;“No sacrifice, No victory.”

(Ross A. Mcginnis Medal of Honor. Photograph. Http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jksu5DxMK60/TEUuP3iOZfI/AAAAAAAAC8E/SyLwiglxyJQ/s1600/MOH1.jpg)

The fact is everyone should have something that they are willing to die for, something they will do anything to protect. And if they don’t they need to reevaluate their life because we all have to have something to stand for, something you can always hold on to, something to make the center of your world. After you read or hear this paper, think about what you stand for and believe in and would you be willing to make a sacrifice on the scale SPC Ross A. McGinnis did?