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A 19-year-old soldier with an infectious grin and a deep love for his fellow soldiers was honored Monday with the nation's highest award for valor.
Spc. Ross McGinnis' parents, Tom and Romayne, were presented with the Medal of Honor by President Bush during an emotional ceremony at the White House.
"Ross did what he did for his buddies," Romayne said. "He did that all his life."
Tom McGinnis said he "was trying to make it through the ceremony. We've been through this a lot."
When asked what his son would have thought of the recognition, Tom said, "If, by some miracle, he had lived through this, he would have had a great time."
Described by his comrades as a squared away soldier who always found a way to life their spirits, Spc. Ross McGinnis gave his life for the brothers-in-arms he loved so much.
On Dec. 4, 2006, McGinnis was manning the turret of the last Humvee of a six-vehicle patrol in Adhamiyah, Iraq, when an insurgent threw a grenade from the roof of a nearby building.
McGinnis, then a private first class with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, tried to deflect the grenade, but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios.
When he stood up to jump out of the vehicle, McGinnis realized the other four soldiers in the truck did not know where the grenade had landed and did not have enough time to escape.
McGinnis threw his back against the radio mount and smothered the explosive with his body. It exploded, hitting him on his lower back and sides, under his vest, killing him instantly. The other men survived. All four of them and other soldiers from McGinnis' 1st Platoon attended Monday's ceremony.
McGinnis was posthumously promoted to specialist and awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor, while the Medal of Honor nomination was pending.
Tom McGinnis said the Medal of Honor initially didn't mean very much to him.
"I know that [Ross] had no thought of medals," he said. "These guys don't go down there and risk their lives for medals. They risk their lives because they're trying to stay alive and protect the people they're with. They do the things they do out of love for each other."
But in the weeks leading up to Monday's ceremony, Tom McGinnis said he changed his mind about the Medal of Honor because of a book he read called "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" by Dave Grossman.
The medal is important not just because it honors his son, but because it fuels the soldiers who fought with him and those who continue to fight, Tom McGinnis said.
"The Medal of Honor is a major thing for soldiers who have fought and are still fighting," he said. "They can say that what we did was right, it was supported by my people, it was supported by my superiors. In a larger sense, the Medal of Honor is a very important thing to everybody, not just for Ross."
Ross McGinnis will be honored Tuesday at the Pentagon, and a new marker for his grave at Arlington National Cemetery will be unveiled Wednesday.
The young soldier, who shared his June 14 birthday with the Army, is the second soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was killed April 4, 2003, fighting off insurgents in a fierce firefight south of Baghdad, was awarded the Medal of Honor two years after he died.
Two other service members have been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq: Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham and Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor. One Medal of Honor has been awarded for actions in Afghanistan, to Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL.
Tom McGinnis remembered his son as a regular young man.
"He made his share of mistakes, he wasn't the ideal student, he wasn't the athlete of the year, he was just a normal, ordinary boy who joined the Army," he said. "He was asked to do something extraordinary and he did it."
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Visit the Army's Web site on Spc. Ross McGinnis: www.army.mil/medalofhonor/mcginnis/index.html.
