Ross A. McGinnis

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Ross Andrew McGinnis

Ross Andrew McGinnis (born June 14, 1987 in Meadville, Pennsylvania , † December 4, 2006 in Baghdad , Iraq ) was an American soldier in the United States Army and served as a machine gunner in the Iraq war . He was fatally wounded in the course of his service and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor , the highest military valor distinction in the United States of America. He is one of the youngest US soldiers to have died in the Iraq war and is the fourth US soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Iraq war.

Training and deployment to Iraq

Ross A. McGinnis joined the United States Army on June 14, 2004, the day of his 17th birthday. After his basic training at Fort Benning , he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st US Infantry Division in Schweinfurt . There he was a member of the 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, with which he was transferred to Iraq in August 2006.

On December 4, 2006, Ross McGinnis, at the time still Private First Class , went on a combat patrol with his unit in Adhamiyah, in northeast Baghdad. The mission was to fight hostile sect members. Corporal McGinnis was giving fire protection to his comrades with a Browning M2 machine gun on one of the Humvees when an enemy fragmentation grenade fell through the gun opening in the roof of the vehicle. While it would probably have been easy for McGinnis to get out of the vehicle through the gate, it would have taken the other four occupants too long to get out through the doors. McGinnis eventually threw himself on the grenade, saving the lives of his comrades.

On June 2, 2008, he was posthumously promoted to Specialist and awarded the Medal of Honor. He is also a holder of the Bronze Star Medal .

Web links

Commons : Ross A. McGinnis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CMOHS.org - Private First Class McGINNIS, ROSS A., US Army. cmohs.org, accessed June 21, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME McGinnis, Ross A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McGinnis, Ross; McGinnis, Ross Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH Meadville, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH 4th December 2006
Place of death Baghdad , Iraq