Ross McGinnis was from Knox, PA and he was not the brightest in his class; he was constantly getting into trouble.  He constantly had low grades and  just barely keeping it above a D.  He got expelled from school for having pot and knives in his locker.  One day he met an Army recruiter who inspired him to join the Army with the motto, “Be all you can be.”

In the Army, he drilled with the heavy weaponry.  He was stationed in Germany where he would join the 1st battalion, 26th infantry regiment.  They would later be sent to Iraq.  One morning he was on a mission positioned in the gunner seat of a Humvee when an insurgent tossed a grenade into the vehicle from a rooftop. Ross tried to deflect it, but it bounced in and landed under the radio panel. He yelled grenade and put his back up against it saving the four other men in the vehicle. He died but would later be posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.

Ross’s actions on that day taught many people what it is to be a hero and to do whats’ the right thing.  Although he is gone, he will not be forgotten for the people from his hometown, and many others will never forget what he had done on that day.