Ross McGinnis laid to rest

Perched high atop a windswept hill overlooking farmland and silos, nearly 1,000 people gathered Sunday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church to pay their last respects to Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis, who died a hero in Iraq.

"That the community has shown up in such large numbers to celebrate his life is a wonderful message to send," said Army War College Commandant Maj. Gen. David Huntoon Jr., who spoke at McGinnis' funeral.

McGinnis, 19, of Knox, Clarion County, died Dec. 4 after jumping on a hand grenade that had been tossed into his Humvee by an insurgent hiding on a Baghdad rooftop. McGinnis saved his four squadmates riding with him from more serious injury or death, Huntoon said. Three were treated for minor injuries; the other is still hospitalized.

"It was extraordinary case of heroism," Huntoon said.

McGinnis, remembered as a tall, lanky kid who preferred humor, adventure and service to his country over the classroom, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the Army's third-highest honor for bravery, and the Purple Heart, which were presented to his father, Thomas, and mother, Romayne.

Fellow soldiers have nominated him for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.

Hundreds of soldiers, veterans, state troopers, friends and residents stood outside the small church during the service. At 1:55 p.m., a silver and black Cadillac hearse bearing a casket with McGinnis' ashes pulled into the church lot, followed by a lengthy procession of cars bearing his parents, sisters, grandmother and other family members.

As a bagpiper played, military pallbearers unloaded the flag-draped coffin and carried it inside the church. A minister then led the mourners with the entrance hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

Church leaders asked mourners to pray for McGinnis' squadmates who were wounded in the attack.

In the church basement, nearly 200 mourners watched the proceedings on a widescreen television set up for the occasion.

McGinnis graduated last year from Keystone High School and worked a brief stint at McDonald's before enlisting in the Army. In Iraq, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division. The division is based in Schweinfurt, Germany.

After getting to Iraq in July, McGinnis manned the .50-caliber machine gun mounted in a turret on a Humvee. It was a job he loved, friends said.

Pictures of McGinnis' life lined the walls of the church basement. Snapshots showed the young McGinnis making faces with his two sisters after his high school graduation ceremony in the school gym. Another caught him as a baby perched on a kitchen counter. Others showed him on combat patrol in Iraq.

In every picture, a wide smile creased McGinnis' face.

Former classmates and McDonald's colleagues Todd Culbertson, Mike Myers, Jake Kinnan and Doug Painter spoke warmly of their friend's expansive sense of humor and infectious optimism.

"He had a real strong sense of humor," Culbertson said. "He was always dancing at work, even though it was McDonald's."

Culbertson's friends agreed.

"He was always trying to make things funny. Everybody is sad, but at the same time honored to have known him," Kinnan said.

Staff Sgt. Frank Burkhard, a 1st Infantry Division unit representative who flew in from Germany for the service, said McGinnis' dedication to his country was an inspiration.

"It's always a sad day when we lose someone. But all these guys that fight with us, they're our brothers forever," Burkhard said.

McGinnis' ashes are to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

From the Tribune Review

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