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Posthumous Medal Of Honor Recipient Found Niche In Military

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The Associated Press

Published: June 1, 2008

SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. - Growing up in a small rural town, Ross McGinnis was more apt to get in trouble than on the honor roll. So he enlisted in the Army, and in just under a year found his soul mate, a brotherhood, and even himself.

"I just cannot wait for the day when I can connect all 3 lives into one," McGinnis wrote on his MySpace page. "But that day will not be for a long time."

The 19-year-old private first class never got that chance.

He was in the gunner's hatch of a Humvee on Dec. 4, 2006, when a grenade sailed past him and into the vehicle where four other soldiers sat. He shouted a warning, then jumped back-first onto the grenade, which blew up and killed him.

On Monday, he will be posthumously presented the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.

"Ross was a hero, I mean, he was honestly the type of soldier that was trustworthy, that was reliable, that was dependable before combat. He loved doing what he was doing," said Ian Newland, one of the soldiers McGinnis saved.

McGinnis grew up in the small town of Knox where he lived with his parents, Tom and Romayne, and older sisters Becky and Katie.
Tom McGinnis believes his son's story must be told truthfully.

"He wasn't the hero in the sense that a lot of people that think of heroes," his father said. "He made some bad decisions, but he still turned out to be a good person ... And that's really the message that I'm trying to get across by pointing out his faults."

So he tells of his son's arrest for being caught with marijuana in school, at age 14, and of getting expelled for the rest of eighth grade. He finished at an alternative school that he liked so much he didn't want to return to regular school.

Eventually, Ross McGinnis decided the Army could provide him training as an automotive technician. He enlisted on his 17th birthday.

However, once in uniform Ross proved himself a quick learner and showed leadership.

He met his girlfriend, Christina, whom he called his soul mate and true love, while stationed in Germany.

McGinnis only came home twice on leave before he was killed, the last time for a couple of weeks in the spring of 2006. His family noticed how he matured since enlisting.

"He was more reserved and more confident and seemed to stand a lot taller, although he didn't grow any while he was in the Army," his father said. "He was a man. Unfortunately, we never really got to know him as a man. He was a child when he left, he got to visit with us a couple times, then he was gone."

Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, a Tampa native and a graduate of Tampa Bay Technical High School, was the first soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq. It was presented two years after his April 4, 2003, death in a battle near Baghdad International Airport. He is credited with saving more than 100 American lives and killing at least 50 Iraqis.

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