I was taking a break when I stumbled upon a CNN video of President George W. Bush awarding the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis. His parents were on hand to receive the highest military honor our nation bestows on its men and women.
His story is a war movie cliche, that of the Private jumping on a live grenade to save his fellow soldiers. There was absolutely no reason to take this action, this ultimate sacrifice. It’s one thing for a General to trade a dozen lives to save a hundred with some military decision. It is quite another for one man to trade his own life for four strangers who had become brothers.
His profile has a statement from his mother and father. Could their be more poignant words than these of 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.”
An online slideshow shows photos of him as a newborn, with his siblings, as a Cub Scout, as a youth baseball player, with his family, and with his unit. His MySpace page is alive and well, with best wishes from friends and fellow soldiers still pouring in daily. He would have been 21 in a couple weeks.
Ross McGinnis. I hope I remember his name and face for the rest of my life.
Tags: Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis, Congressional Medal of Honor
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
pretty incredible. i hope i never forget either.