updated 11:53 a.m. CT, Mon., June. 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday presented the nation’s highest military award to a young soldier killed in Iraq when he threw himself on a hand grenade tossed into a Humvee where four other soldiers sat.

Ross McGinnis of Knox, Penn., was 19 years old when he gave his life to save the lives of his colleagues.

“The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military distinction,” the president said. “It’s given for valor beyond anything that duty could require or a superior could command.”

Bush was joined at a White House ceremony by Vice President Dick Cheney and military leaders, McGinnis’ parents, Tom and Romayne, and others.

McGinnis was in the gunner’s hatch of a Humvee in Iraq 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-first onto the grenade, which blew up and killed him.

‘He loved doing what he was doing’
“Ross was a hero, I mean, he was honestly the type of soldier that was trustworthy, that was reliable, 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, about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, where he lived with his parents, and older sisters Becky and Katie. His father jokes that he’s a redneck: unsophisticated and living in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. He works at an auto supply store. Romayne works at Wal-Mart.

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 decisions, 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 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.

Quick study
However, once in uniform Ross proved himself a quick learner and showed leadership.

He met his girlfriend Christina, whom he called his soul mate and true love, while stationed in Germany. That’s also where he developed tight bonds with his fellow soldiers.

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, McGinnis e-mailed his father 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 e-mail 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.”’