[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 93 (Friday, June 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5352-S5353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES
SPECIALIST Ross A. McGinnis
Mr. CASEY. Finally, I want to speak for a couple of moments about a
Pennsylvanian. As I have mentioned before, there are more World War II
Medal of Honor winners from Pennsylvania than anywhere else. We did
some research, and you can go down the list of people who have served
from Pennsylvania, who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor, and we note that 378 Pennsylvanians have received the Medal of
Honor out of about 3,467 overall, so a high percentage.
We had 25 Medal of Honor winners from World War II and in Operation
Iraqi Freedom; one is the person I want to spend a couple of moments
talking about. Operation Iraqi Freedom has only four, I am told, four
Medal of Honor winners across the Nation, so Pennsylvania has one of
those four, and his name is Specialist Ross A. McGinnis, 1st Platoon, C
Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 1st Infantry Division.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
a two-page document entitled, ``The Story of PFC Ross A. McGinnis,'' as
well as a news story from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette from this week.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I will not read all of it, but I wanted to
read the description of his sacrifice and the reason he was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor, so rare for any soldier to be so awarded.
Here is part of the official report. This is December 4, 2006.
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 the concussive effects of
the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was a private
first class at the time, was posthumously promoted to
specialist. Specialist McGinnis's heroic actions and tragic
death are detailed in the battlescape section of this website
and in his Medal of Honor Citation.
He was a young man from Knox, PA, 19 years old, when he gave, as
Abraham Lincoln also said, ``The last full measure of devotion to his
country.'' And I have used that line a lot because it applies so well
to those who have given their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan and other
places around the world, but at no time--at no time--that I have used
that line from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has it applied
better than it does in this instance, for Ross. A McGinnis, 19 years
old, born June 14, 1987, in Meadville, PA, though he grew up in Knox,
PA. He was a 2005 graduate of Keystone Junior-Senior High School, and
his parents were with President Bush this week when he was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
So we are thinking of him today, on D-day, but we should make sure
those memories we have of his service, and all those who have served in
any conflict, be the inspiration for our hard work in the Senate, to
make sure we are doing everything we can to earn the valor they gave so
heroically for our country. And that has to be about making sure our
troops are given what they need when they are on the battlefield, but
also ensuring that when they come home, the help doesn't stop at the
shoreline; that they are given the best health care and the best
educational opportunities.
So, Mr. President, I will conclude with this: We pay tribute to those
who have served our country, especially today, in remembering those who
served on D-day, but in a special way we are thinking of Ross A.
McGinnis, his service, his sacrifice, and we are praying for his
family.
Exhibit 1
The Story of PFC Ross A. McGinnis
1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
Spc. McGinnis' dedication to duty and love for his fellow
Soldiers were embodied in a statement issued by 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.''
Ross Andrew McGinnis was born June 14, 1987 in Meadville,
PA. His family moved to Knox, northeast of Pittsburgh, when
he was three. There he attended Clarion County public
schools, and was a member of the Boy Scouts as a boy. Growing
up he played basketball and soccer through the YMCA, and
Little League baseball. Ross was a member of St. Paul's
Lutheran Church in Knox, and a 2005 graduate of Keystone
Junior-Senior High School.
Ross's interests included video games and mountain biking.
He was also a car enthusiast, and took classes at the Clarion
County Career Center in automotive technology. He also worked
part-time at McDonald's after school.
His mother, Romayne, said Ross wanted to be a Soldier early
in life. When asked to draw a picture of what he wanted to be
when he grew up, Ross McGinnis, the kindergartner, drew a
picture of a Soldier.
On his 17th birthday, June 14, 2004, Ross went to the Army
recruiting station and joined through the delayed entry
program.
After initial entry training at Fort Benning, Georgia,
McGinnis was 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. Ross was serving as an M2 .50
caliber machine gunner in 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st
Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment in support of operations
against insurgents in Adhamiyah, Iraq.
According to the official report, on the afternoon of Dec.
4, 2006, McGinnis' platoon was on mounted patrol in Adhamiyah
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 the concussive effects of
the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was a private
first class at the time, was posthumously promoted to
specialist. Spc. McGinnis's heroic actions and tragic death
are detailed in the battlescape section of this website and
in his Medal of Honor Citation.
Army Decorations: Medal of Honor (to be presented to Tom
and Romayne McGinnis at a June 2, 2008 White House Ceremony),
Silver Star (awarded for valor exhibited during the events of
Dec. 4, 2006, pending processing and approval of Medal of
Honor), Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal,
National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global
War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas
Service Ribbon, and Combat Infantryman Badge.
____
[From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
(By Milan Simonich)
Medal of Honor Presented to Family of a Hero
Washington.--President Bush yesterday awarded the Medal of
Honor to a fallen Clarion County soldier, calling him an
ordinary guy who did the extraordinary to save the lives of
four buddies in Iraq.
Spc. Ross McGinnis used his body to cover a grenade that an
insurgent threw from a rooftop into an Army Humvee. By
turning himself into a human shield, he gave his life to
protect the other men in his crew.
Mr. Bush presented the Medal of Honor, America's highest
military decoration, to Tom and Romayne McGinnis, parents of
the 19-year-old soldier. About 300 people--including the four
soldiers who survived the grenade blast--attended the
ceremony in the East Room of the White House. It ended with
everybody standing and applauding for Spc. McGinnis.
[[Page S5353]]
By then, Mrs. McGinnis was fighting back tears. Mr. Bush
turned and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to smile.
Then he escorted her from the room.
Afterward, Mrs. McGinnis said the president had told her he
might cry if she did.
Tom McGinnis said his son, a restless and below-average
student until his senior year of high school in Knox, would
have savored this day of acclamation had he lived to see it.
``He'd have had a great time. He'd have enjoyed the
spotlight,'' Mr. McGinnis said.
In an earlier interview, he said he is certain his son
never thought of medals or glory. Friendships and
relationships were all that motivated his son, Mr. McGinnis
said.
Sgt. Ian Newland, the only soldier to be seriously injured
in the explosion, walks with a cane now. At 28, he said his
goal is to run again, though doctors tell him he won't. He
wants to accomplish all he can each day--his only way of
repaying Spc. McGinnis.
In a news conference after the ceremony, Sgt. Newland said
each moment of the grenade explosion is burned into his
memory. Even so, he said, it took a few days of reflection
for him to fully grasp the magnitude of Spc. McGinnis'
sacrifice.
The crew was rolling through a Baghdad neighborhood the
morning of Dec. 4, 2006. Spc. McGinnis rode atop the Humvee
in a hatch, manning a .50-caliber machine gun.
A man on a roof threw a grenade that dropped straight
through the hatch and into the Humvee, where the other four
soldiers essentially were trapped.
Spc. McGinnis could have dived onto the street to safety.
Instead, he jumped back inside the Humvee and pinned the
grenade between his back and the vehicle.
It exploded a second or two later, piercing Spc. McGinnis'
body armor and blowing the doors off the Humvee. Shrapnel
tore into Sgt. Newland's head and all four limbs.
As he looks back on that day, Sgt. Newland said he focuses
on two things: ``The pain. The grief.''
The other three soldiers--Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas,
Sgt. Lyle Buehler and Spc. Sean Lawson--were not hurt
physically. Sgt. Buehler said survivor's guilt weighs on him.
Had the grenade rolled in front of him, he would have been in
the position to cover it. As it happened, only Spc. McGinnis
knew where the grenade was.
The others say Spc. McGinnis took little seriously except
soldiering.
``The first time I met him, he had me laughing,'' Spc.
Lawson said.
In his combat team in the 1 st Battalion, 26 Infantry
Regiment, Spc. McGinnis developed a reputation for doing
impressions, the soldiers said. So spot-on were his
imitations that a drill instructor even laughed when he was
the object of one of them.
The youngest man in his unit, Spc. McGinnis looked out for
his crew as though they were brothers. Sgt. Thomas offers the
most succinct description of the 6-foot, 136-pound beanpole,
saying: ``He is a hero.''
Mr. McGinnis said his son knew that four lives were more
valuable than one, so he instinctively reacted to save the
others.
He remembers his son as an ordinary kid who made plenty of
mistakes, then got interested in military service and
fulfilled his potential in the Army.
``It wasn't an exciting story until right to the end,'' Mr.
McGinnis said.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alabama.
____________________