Washington, D.C. – Army Specialist Ross A. McGinnis’s name will live on in his hometown of Knox, Pennsylvania after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to rename the U.S. Postal Service facility in Knox after the Pennsylvania hero and Medal of Honor recipient. Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is a cosponsor of this legislation.
The US House approved the measure last week.
The U.S. Postal Service facility at 523 East Railroad Street in Knox, Clarion County will be renamed the “Specialist Ross A. McGinnis Memorial Post Office” to honor his heroic actions and selflessness at the cost of his own life in Northeast Baghdad, Iraq on December 4, 2006.
“Pennsylvania has produced some of the greatest examples of courage, fortitude, and bravery in the history of mankind,” said Sen. Toomey. “Even among those examples, the valiant actions of Specialist Ross McGinnis stand out. Without hesitation, he threw himself on a grenade to save four of his friends and fellow soldiers. It’s impossible to show our full gratitude to him and his family, or to fully understand that level of sacrifice. I am glad this post office will serve as a reminder to Specialist McGinnis’s community in Knox of his valor and bravery. I will continue to look for opportunities to honor his sacrifice – a sacrifice Abraham Lincoln rightly called the ‘last full measure of devotion.’”
Background
On the afternoon of December 4, 2006, Specialist McGinnis’s platoon was conducting combat control operations in an effort to reduce and control sectarian violence in Northeast Baghdad, Iraq. While Specialist McGinnis was manning the M2 .50-caliber machine gun on his vehicle, 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. Rather than leaping from the gunner’s hatch to safety, Specialist McGinnis made the courageous decision to protect his crew. In a selfless act of bravery, in which he was mortally wounded, Specialist McGinnis covered the live grenade, pinning it between his body and the vehicle and absorbing most of the explosion.
Specialist McGinnis’s full Medal of Honor citation is available here.