A 19-year old soldier who died after saving the lives of four comrades in Iraq by jumping on a grenade tossed into their military vehicle, was awarded the nation’s highest military award. 

President George Bush was the one who presented the award to honor the soldier, Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis.  The president solemnly said that he “gave all for his country.”  President Bush stated: 

“No one outside this man’s family can know the true weight of their loss.  But in words spoken long ago, we are told how to measure the kind of devotion that Ross McGinnis showed on his last day: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’”

McGinnis was a gunner’s hatch of a Humvee on December 4, 2006, on a patrol in Iraq, when a grenade was thrown past him and into the vehicle where his four other comrades were sitting.  He warned his comrades by shouting and then jumped on the grenade while it was lodged near the vehicle’s radio.  In the process, he lost his life and saved the life of his friends. 

McGinnis grew up in the rural town of Knox, Pa.  He enlisted in the Army after some struggles in school.  Friends and family watched him as he transforms into a grown, mature man. 

President George Bush had spoken in the East Room at a ceremony attended by Vice President Dick Cheney, prior recipients of the Medal of Honor, military leaders, McGinnis’ parents, Tom and Romayne, and his two sisters, Becky and Katie.  The four soldiers who were saved, also attended.