CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Tom McGinnis, father of Medal of Honor Winner Ross McGinnis, emphasized to Clarion Rotary earlier this week that all veterans should be honored for their service.
(Pictured with McGinnis are Rotarian Kathy Glosser and Rotary President Stephanie Wilshire.)
“Just making the decision to serve in the military qualifies them for our respect and gratitude,” said McGinnis. “It isn’t just someone who wins a medal because there are many in the service who do heroic things but never receive a medal or even recognition of their accomplishments.”
Specialist Ross McGinnis, a graduate of Keystone High School and the Keystone Smiles Program, is one of those few who are honored for making the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of his tank crew in Iraq.
His father recalled his son’s lifelong ambition to serve in the military, showing a drawing he made in Kindergarten about what Ross wanted to be when he grew up. The picture drawn with bright crayons on construction paper showed a soldier.
McGinnis was born on Flag Day, June 14, 1987, in Meadville. His family moved to Knox when he was three. There he attended Clarion County public schools and was a member of the Boy Scouts. Growing up, he played basketball and soccer through the YMCA. He was a member of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Knox and a 2005 graduate of Keystone Junior-Senior High School.
McGinnis entered the Army under an early enlistment-training program when he was 17. Basic training was in Fort Benning, Ga., and later assigned to 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment in Schweinfurt, Germany. According to fellow soldiers, he loved soldiering and took his job seriously, but he also loved to make people laugh. One fellow soldier commented that every time McGinnis left a room, he left the soldiers in it laughing.
The unit deployed to Eastern Baghdad in August 2006 where sectarian violence was rampant. He was serving as an M250 caliber machine gunner in 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment in support of operations against insurgents in Adhamiyah, Iraq.
According to the official report, on the afternoon of December 4, 2006, McGinnis’ platoon was on mounted patrol in Adhamiya 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 concussive effects of the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was private first class at the time, was posthumously promoted to specialist.
All of the survivors credit McGinnis with saving their lives.
His Army decorations include the Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, Armed Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and Combat Infantryman Badge.
McGinnis was the first Pennsylvania soldier to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.
Officials from the U.S. Postal Service recently hosted a re-dedication ceremony for the Knox Post Office in honor of Army Specialist Ross Andrew McGinnis.
