OCR Text |
Show DAILY A8 HERALD Sunday, June 1, 2008 MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER boy to 'natural' soldier From small-tow- n Dan Hephin The Associated Press up in a small rural town, was more apt to get than on the honor roll. So he enlisted in the Army, and in just under a year found his soul mate, a brotherhood, and even himself. Growing 1 JUST CANNOT WAIT for the day when I can connect all 3 lives into one," McGinnis wrote on his MySpace page. "But that day will not be for a long time." The private first class never got that chance. He was in the gunner's hatch of a Humvee on Dec. 4, 2006, when a grenade sailed past him and into the vehicle where four other soldiers sat. He shouted a warning, then jumped back-fironto the grenade, which blew up and killed him. On Monday, he will be posthumously presented the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. "Ross was a hero, I mean, he was honestly the type of soldier that was trustworthy, that was reliable, st that was dependable before combat. He loved doing what he was doing," said Ian Newland, one of the soldiers McGinnis saved. McGinnis grew up in the small town of Knox, Pa., about 60 miles i northeast of Pittsburgh, where he lived with his parents, Tom and and older sisters Becky and Katie. Tom jokes that he's a redneck: unsophisticated and living in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. He works at an auto supply store. Romayne works at e, Wal-Mar- Ml I it'' 1 t. Tom McGinnis believes his son's story must be told truthfully, rough patches and all. "He wasn't the hero in the sense that a lot of people that think of heroes," his father said. "He made some bad decisionsj but he still turned out to be a good person ... And that's really the message that I'm trying to get across by pointing out his faults. Not that I'm trying to disparage him in some way." So he tells of his son's arrest for being caught with marijuana in school, at age 14, and of getting expelled for the rest of eighth grade. He finished at an alternative school that he liked so much he didn't want to return to regular school. "He didn't pick up things at r s , KEITH SRAKOCICAssociated Thomas and Romayne McGinnis look through an album of photos made while their son, Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis, was on duty in Iraq, in their Shippenville, Pa., home on Friday, Lauren Frayer ASSOCIATED Mt '4 i v j v :, bugler plays taps during funeral services for Army Spc. Ross McGinnis of Knox, Pa., Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on March 23, 2007. school like he should, for whatever reason. And his grades always suffered," his father said. Eventually, Ross McGinnis decided the Army could provide him training as an automotive technician. He enlisted on his 17th birthday, June 14, 2004. "When he told us that he was going to enlist, we didn't discourage him, because we knew he wasn't college material," his father said. However, once in uniform Ross proved himself a quick learner and soldiers. "He definitely loved to make jokes and get everyone laughing, but when things got serious ... you only had to tell Ross one time. He had it down," recalled Newland, 28, who was a sergeant when McGinn-i- s was assigned to him in Germany. "He was a natural." The two became close before deploying to Iraq. McGinnis often spent weekends with Newland, his wife, daughter and son, becoming part of the family. "That's the way my family viewed him and the other soldiers as well. We all saw him as a brother," said Newland, who retired in November because of his shrapnel injuries from the grenade attack. "My daughter still, every night when she says her prayers, thanks Ross for saving her daddy's life," he said. While stationed overseas, Mc- - ' Ginnis sent his father and to apologize for the problems He caused when he was young. In his reply, Tom McGinnis told his son there was no need to say he was sorry and that he wished he had been a better provider to his family. Ross McGinnis proudly shared the with several fellow soldiers. "He said they bonded more that one day than they had throughout their training," his father said. "When he called home to tell me about it ... He says, 'You son of a bitch, you made me cry.' " McGinnis only came home twice on leave before he was killed, the last time for a couple of weeks in the spring of 2006. His family noticed how he had matured since enlisting. "He was more reserved and more confident and seemed to stand a lot taller, although he didn't grow any while he was in the Army," his father said. "He was a man. Unfortunately, we never really got to know him as a man. He was a child when he left, he got to visit with us a couple times, then he was gone." McGinnis last spoke to his on a Friday, three days before he was killed. He called his mother t, at her job where it was par-ent- " KEVIN WOLF, Associated Press at Arlington National i ' ' - - s ' . 3 $ V I 1, ,V V s Wal-Mar- easier to reach her. "So I'd take the call out on the floor. You talk about hard to keep your composure when your son is calling from Iraq," she recalled. He told her his picture was on the front of Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military newspaper, accompanying an article about his unit coming under attack after Saddam Hussein was convicted. "He was really proud of that picture, and he carried it with him, they said. And he called and told us about it," his father said. "And on Monday, I was bragging about his fame. Monday night, we learned that he was dead." More than a year after his death, friends still leave messages to McGinnis on his MySpace page. "Hey man i miss you so much and i wish you were here," one poster wrote in April. The other soldiers in the Humvee Sgt. Lyle Buehler, Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas and Spc. Sean Law-so- n are still in the military. They planned to attend Monday's Medal V Pfc. Ross McGinnis of Honor ceremony but were unavailable for interviews, an Army spokesman said. Newland still struggles with knowing he's alive because of his friend's sacrifice. If McGinnis had jumped from the Humvee to save his own life, as he had been trained, no one would have faulted him, Newland said. "I've never felt more proud in my life to have known somebody and have shared so many experiences with somebody and to have someone call me their friend," Newland said, "but at the same time, never felt so guilty and ripped apart from the inside and outside and almost wishful that events could have been changed." On the Net: I McGinnis: www.army.mil medalof honor Imcginnis I Medal of Honor: www.medalofhonor.com stance on women sparks extremist debate Al-Qaid-a's THE Press - A showed leadership. ' He met his girlfriend Christina, whom he called his soul mate and true love, while stationed in Ger many. That's also where he developed tight bonds with his fellow v.. iJ PRESS Muslim CAIRO, Egypt extremist women are challengrefusal to include ing or at least acknowledge women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam. In response to a female No. 2 leader tioner, said in Ayman April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of fighters. His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fun- -' damentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have also created some confusion, because in fact suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of A'eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she also supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks. Another woman signed a more than 2,000-wor- d essay of protest online as Rabeebat Arabic for "Companion ' of Weapons." "How many times have I wished I were a man ... When said Sheikh Ayman there are no women in the core leadership ranks around bin Laden and But is beyond that core, 3 really a movement with loosely 4 Xlinked offshoots in various j countries and sympathizers who may not play a direct role. Women are clearly among these sympathizers, and some are part of the offshoot groups. In the Iraq branch, for example, women have carried out or attempted at least 20 suicide v bombings since 2003. members suspected of training women to use suicide belts were captured in Iraq at least three times last year, the U.S. military has said. Hamas, another militant group, is open about using women fighters and disagrees stated stance. with At least 11 Palestinian women Km I have launched suicide attacks in recent years. "A lot of the girls I speak KARIM KAOIMAssociated Press to ... want to carry weapons. They live with this great Iraqi men mourn relatives killed after a pair of female suicide bombers blew themselves up in frustration and oppression," two Baghdad pet markets, killing at least 64 people, in Baghdad on Feb. 1. ;,. said Huda Nairn, a prominent women's leader, Hamas memthere are no women in making their identities and lohappening today in the Middle ber and Palestinian lawmaker in Gaza. "We don't have a spehe saddened and hurt me," cations impossible to verify. East, especially in Iraq or in cial militant wing for women ... wrote "Companion of WeapHowever, groups that moniPalestinian groups," said Rita tor such sites say the postings Katz, director of the SITE but that doesn't mean that we ons," who said she listened to the speech 10 times. "I felt that appear credible because of the Intelligence Group, an organistrip women of the right to go to jihad." zation that monitors militant my heart was about to explode knowledge and passion they in my chest ... I am powerless." betray. Many appear to repreremarks show Web sites. "Suicide operations the fine line Such postings have appeared sent computer-literat- e women are being carried out by womwalks in arguing in the most modern of en, who play an important role terms of public relations. In anonymously on discussion venues the Internet for a modern Arab world where forums of Web sites that host in jihad." leader rights within a feudal version videos from top It's not clear how far women women work even in same conof Islam. Osama bin Laden. While the because servative countries, play a role in "Women were very dismost popular site requires attitude could hurt its efforts of the group's amorphous nanames and passwords, many to win over the public at large. ture. appointed because what said is not what's On the other hand, noted SITE Terrorism experts believe people use only nicknames, director Katz, has to consider that many supporters, such as the Taliban, do not believe women should play a military role in jihad. comments - audio recame in a two-hoIslamic on an posted cording militant Web site, where he answered hundreds of questions sent in by sympathizers. He praised the wives of mujahedeen, or holy warriors. He also said a Muslim woman should "be ready for any service the mujahedeen need from her," but advised against traveling to a war front like Afghanistan without a male guardian. stance might stem from personal history, as well as religious beliefs. His first wife and at least two of their six children were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar in 2001. He later accused the U.S. of intentionally targeting women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I say to you ... I have tasted the bitterness of American brutality: my favorite wife's chest was crushed by a concrete ceiling," he wrote in a 2005 letter. v question-and-answ- of , campaign is one sign sophistication in using the Web to keep in touch with its popular base, even while its leaders remain in hiding. However, the Internet has also given those disenfranin this chised by case, women a voice they never had before. |