Today, President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to the family of Army Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis:
In part, the President said:
One afternoon 18 months ago, Private McGinnis was part of a humvee patrol in a neighborhood of Baghdad. From his position in the gun turret, he noticed a grenade thrown directly at the vehicle. In an instant, the grenade dropped through the gunner’s hatch. He shouted a warning to the four men inside. Confined in that tiny space, the soldiers had no chance of escaping the explosion. Private McGinnis could have easily jumped from the humvee and saved himself. Instead he dropped inside, put himself against the grenade, and absorbed the blast with his own body.
By that split-second decision, Private McGinnis lost his own life, and he saved his comrades. One of them was Platoon Sergeant Cedric Thomas, who said this: “He had time to jump out of the truck. He chose not to. He’s a hero. He was just an awesome guy.” For his actions, Private McGinnis received the Silver Star, a posthumous promotion in rank, and a swift nomination for the Medal of Honor. But it wasn’t acclaim or credit that motivated him. Ross’s dad has said, “I know medals never crossed his mind. He was always about friendships and relationships. He just took that to the ultimate this time.”
United States Army Congressional Medal of Honor citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an M2 .50-caliber Machine Gunner, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Adhamiyah, Northeast Baghdad, Iraq, on 4 December 2006.
That afternoon his platoon was conducting combat control operations in an effort to reduce and control sectarian violence in the area. While Private McGinnis was manning the M2 .50-caliber Machine Gun, a fragmentation grenade thrown by an insurgent fell through the gunner’s hatch into the vehicle. Reacting quickly, he yelled “grenade,” allowing all four members of his crew to prepare for the grenade’s blast. Then, rather than leaping from the gunner’s hatch to safety, Private McGinnis made the courageous decision to protect his crew. In a selfless act of bravery, in which he was mortally wounded, Private McGinnis covered the live grenade, pinning it between his body and the vehicle and absorbing most of the explosion.
Private McGinnis’ gallant action directly saved four men from certain serious injury or death. Private First Class McGinnis’ extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
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It is inspirational to see self-sacrifice of this kind. And I do not mean temporary sacrifice of one life-style for another. I mean self-sacrifice of life itself. In that split second an instinctive decision was made to accept death and the loss of any alternative future that life here on earth may have afforded. In fact if there were even a moments thought that survival may have been a possibility surely the thought of the forthcoming pain, agony and debilitation would render it worthless. No, this sacrifice was one of suicide because life after the loss of his friends and buddies, who he knew he could save, would make the rest of his own life unbearable. He knew his family and friends would miss him and as much as he himself would love to live the others that he saved also had family and friends that would mourn and his buddies had hopes aspirations and dreams just as great and meaningful as his own. In that crucial moment, almost any decision he made would have been an honorable one. He would not be blamed for having saved himself. The choice he made proves that Americans are also willing to die, not for Jihad and a place in heaven where 72 virgins await, but for the sake of their friends, their country and for you and me.
We have men like Andrew McGinnis and we have men like Scott McClellan. Does the media and the liberal left understand the difference and do they care to? Maybe they should ponder how that makes us feel about them.