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# He died so others could live
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/he-died-so-others-could-live/
- Published: 2008-05-26T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:42:39.000Z
- Author: Bill Bauer
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

MY DEC. 25, 2006, “MY WRITE” WAS about Ross A. McGinnis, 19, of Knox, Pa; private first class Army. McGinnis was killed Dec. 4, 2006 when he smothered a grenade thrown into his Humvee in Baghdad, saving the lives of four other soldiers in the vehicle.

The story is one of extraordinary courage, heroism and sacrifice. I quoted articles by Milan Simonich in the Dec. 16, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette which said, “McGinnis died when he threw himself on a grenade that an insurgent flung from a rooftop into the Humvee that carried five soldiers who were on patrol in Baghdad. McGinnis who was atop the Humvee in the gunner’s hatch, saw the grenade coming and tried to bat it away. He missed and the device landed inside the vehicle.”

“An average man would have leapt out of the gunner’s cupola to safety,” the Army said in its official account of the life-or-death episode.“Pfc. McGinnis decided to stay with his crew. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life... he threw his back over the grenade to pin it between his body and the truck’s radio mount.”

It detonated, piercing Pfc. McGinnis’ body armor, killing him instantly. Even though he turned himself into a human shield, the force of the blast was still powerful enough to badly injure the other soldiers. However, all four survived because of Pfc. McGinnis’ sacrifice.

Ross McGinnis was an unlikely hero. He was a skinny kid from Knox, Pa., located in the Appalachians, northeast of Pittsburgh. “He was 6 feet tall and weighed only 136 pounds the day he died,” said the Post- Gazette. Tom and Romayne McGinnis were his parents. “He’d remind you more of Bart Simpson than anything else — you know, sort of an underachiever,” said Tom McGinnis, 58, “Ross was bright but had a wild streak. He was a ‘D’ student.”

In eighth grade, Ross bought marijuana from a classmate at Keystone Junior-Senior High School. Word got out, his locker was searched, and a couple of knives were found, his father said. He was expelled from school, prosecuted in juvenile court and placed on one year probation.

Even then, Ross always helped his buddies, even risking himself. He hid a stolen bicycle for a friend. But, after admitting to the indiscretion (which could have violated his probation and sent him to juvenile lockup), authorities cut him some slack.

According to news reports, Keystone readmitted him for ninth grade. His behavior improved but his grades didn’t. By 11th grade, he still preferred mischief to studying. Cars, sports and video games were his passions. He enrolled at the Clarion County Career Center, where he studied automotive technology and fared well. Then, after meeting an Army recruiter, he committed to the Army by pledging to enlist after graduation.

In spring of 2005, Ross graduated and completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. The Army sent him to Schweinfurt, Germany and assigned him to a combat team in the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment. His unit deployed to Iraq in August, 2006\. Once there, the small town teenager who had always been something of a comedian and goof-off kid at home finally became a soldier.

He regarded the other young men in his unit as his friends and perhaps the brothers he never had. He was the youngest member of the unit and he believed in his cause. He told his family he thought he was fighting so a society (Iraq) could be free.

On the morning of Dec. 4, 2006, he began a mission with the rank of private first class. Positioned atop the Humvee, they rounded a corner. There was the grenade. The explosion blew open the doors of the Humvee and sprayed the other soldiers with shrapnel. Almost immediately, the Army promoted Pfc. McGinnis to the rank of specialist and his superiors nominated him for the Medal of Honor. He posthumously received the Silver Star, third-highest award for valor in combat.

I recently found out that it’s expected that President Bush will posthumously award Spc. McGinnis the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military award at the White House, next month (the Army already has authorized the Medal of Honor for Spc. McGinnis, but will not confirm it until the White House makes the official announcement).

And, McGinnis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. VFW Post 2145 in nearby Clarion, Pa., has been renamed for him and now there’s now a memorial bench at Keystone High in his honor.

A plaque in the McGinnises’ tidy mobile home sums up Ross’ sacrifice: “There is no greater demonstration of devotion than to lay down your life for another.”

Correction In last week’s column, I mentioned Mayor, Herb Katz had served three terms on City Council. He’s in his fourth term on the dais.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 26, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052608.pdf?ref=smdp.com)