The LA Times has a story on-line today that deserves to be told and retold to all Americans. In today’s polarized society stories of military valor do not play well among many of our enlightened citizens or simply can’t compete with speculation about who will win American Idol this week, or what Hollywood celebrity is the latest to be caught up in a drug bust. Such was not always so. In WWII it was different. Well, many things were different then.
When an Iraqi insurgent threw a grenade into the Humvee where Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis manned the machine gun, he had time to jump from the turret and save himself.
But he didn't. In a matter of seconds, with four comrades stuck inside, McGinnis yelled "grenade" into his microphone, dropped down the turret and used his back to smother it.
On Monday, during a solemn White House ceremony, President Bush presented McGinnis' parents, Tom and Romayne, with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their son, who absorbed the grenade's blast and saved the other men.
There have been American fighting men like this in every conflict. Many have been anonymous heroes known only to God. We honor these men that are recognized for such actions because we know they represent the best of us, an ideal that few will ever achieve but for which we should all aspire. This is the love that the Bible calls “agape love,” the self-sacrificing love which Jesus demonstrated in His crucifixion and death for our sake.
I pray that the parents of PFC. Ross A. McGinnis are able to take solace in knowing that their son is a perfect example of whom Jesus was speaking when He said “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
PFC Ross A. McGinnis is but one of many heroes of our time. Let us always remember their sacrifices, but mostly let us remember their love.
Learn more about PFC McGinnis here.
1 comments:
That kind of selflessness is too rare these days--rare in any age.
God bless PFC McGinnis' family. A grateful nation appreciates his service.
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