The red flag on the stage at Keystone Area High School bore three gold stars in representation of Lt. Gen. Maria Gervais, who was scheduled to visit the school. But the assembly being held last week was not about a general — it was about an enlisted man, Spc. Ross McGinnis.
“I would have never passed up the opportunity to visit Keystone High School to pay my respects to the community and the McGinnis family and to honor Spc. Ross McGinnis’ service to our nation, his sacrifice, and also his legacy,” said Gervais, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command deputy commanding general/chief of staff, and the first woman to hold that post.
“I’m very honored, and I’m very humbled to be here.”
McGinnis tried to deflect it, she said, but it got past him and entered the vehicle that had four more men inside.
“He yelled ‘Grenade!’ when it landed, but the men inside the vehicle asked where it was, Gervais said. “He responded, ‘It’s in the truck!’ and moved to exit as he was trained to do. However, he realized that the men inside were trapped and unprotected from the coming blast.”
As a result, she said, he dropped into the hatch and quickly pinned the grenade between his back and the radio mount, absorbing all the lethal fragments. He died instantly. Only one of the four men was hospitalized as a result of the blast.
“So you ask yourself, what would lead the youngest member of his unit to take this selfless, courageous act?” Gervais said. “I would offer that it was the trust he had in his teammates. The bond that’s born in serving in a team with a higher purpose, and it is because of the love and passion he had for his team and serving his country.”
Gervais said McGinnis will not be forgotten. “His actions will always be remembered nationwide.”
“We know that this loss is a heavy burden to bear for the McGinnis family, this community, and for our country. So, mom and dad, friends and also the community here, I can only imagine the hole that is in your heart,” she said. “It must be wider than all of the oceans combined and not a minute, nor a second goes by that you don’t think of Ross and you miss him dearly.
“He is your son, he is from your hometown, and he is your hero. He didn’t lose a life, he gave a life.”
Gervais, who was at the school before her scheduled arrival at the graduation service of Reserve Officers Training Corps students at Clarion University, expressed a collective gratitude to McGinnis, and thankfulness to his family “for sharing Ross with us and allowing him to pursue his lifelong dream of serving his country as an American soldier.”