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 the 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 is 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, Silver Star
(awarded for valor exhibited during the events of
Dec. 4, 2006, 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.
Information courtesy
of U.S. Army
