PRINTER'S NO. 2231
No. 368 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY McILHATTAN, RAPP, LONGIETTI, ADOLPH, BAKER,
BASTIAN, BELFANTI, BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, BIANCUCCI, BISHOP,
BOBACK, BOYD, BROOKS, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CARROLL,
CAUSER, CIVERA, CLYMER, COHEN, CONKLIN, COSTA, COX,
CREIGHTON, CUTLER, DALEY, DALLY, DeLUCA, DENLINGER,
DePASQUALE, DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, J. EVANS,
EVERETT, FABRIZIO, FAIRCHILD, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE,
GIBBONS, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GRELL,
HARHAI, HARRIS, HELM, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, HESS, HICKERNELL,
HUTCHINSON, JAMES, JOSEPHS, KAUFFMAN, M. KELLER, W. KELLER,
KENNEY, KILLION, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KOTIK, KULA, MAHONEY,
MAJOR, MANTZ, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McGEEHAN, MELIO, METCALFE,
MILLARD, R. MILLER, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO, MYERS, NAILOR,
M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PERZEL, PHILLIPS, PICKETT,
PYLE, QUINN, RAMALEY, RAYMOND, READSHAW, REED, REICHLEY,
ROAE, ROEBUCK, ROHRER, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SANTONI,
SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SEIP, SHAPIRO, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH,
SOLOBAY, SONNEY, STABACK, STEIL, STERN, R. STEVENSON, SURRA,
TANGRETTI, J. TAYLOR, R. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TURZAI, VEREB,
VULAKOVICH, WALKO, WANSACZ, WATSON, J. WHITE, WOJNAROSKI AND
YOUNGBLOOD, JULY 5, 2007
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JULY 5, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring the life and extending condolences for the supreme
2 sacrifice of United States Army Specialist Ross A. McGinnis,
3 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
4 Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany, who
5 tragically lost his life in the service of his country while
6 patrolling the streets of Baghdad, Iraq, on December 4, 2006.
7 WHEREAS, Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, 19, was a resident of Knox,
8 Clarion County, Pennsylvania, and was born on June 14, 1987; and
9 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis was a member of the St. Paul Lutheran
10 Church, Knox, and a 2005 graduate of Keystone High School; and
1 WHEREAS, Growing up, Spc. McGinnis was a member of Boy Scout
2 Troop 56 and played YMCA basketball and soccer and Little League
3 with the Knox Association teams; and
4 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis's passions, in addition to the Army,
5 were video games and mountain biking, and he was a car
6 enthusiast, having taken classes at the Clarion County Career
7 Center in automotive technology; and
8 WHEREAS, His family shares memories of Spc. McGinnis having
9 known from a very young age that he wanted to join the Army; and
10 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis is remembered as a young boy who, when
11 asked in kindergarten to draw a picture of what he wanted to be
12 when he grew up, drew a picture of a soldier; and
13 WHEREAS, On his 17th birthday, the first day of his
14 eligibility, Spc. McGinnis went to the recruiting station of the
15 United States Army and joined through the Delayed Enlistment
16 Program; and
17 WHEREAS, During Spc. McGinnis's Infantry training, the left-
18 handed man qualified as an expert shooting left-handed and as a
19 sharp-shooter, one step below expert, shooting right-handed; and
20 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis took this expertise to serve his
21 country with the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd
22 Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, in Schweinfurt,
23 Germany; and
24 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis was deployed to Iraq in July 2006; and
25 WHEREAS, On Monday, December 4, 2006, Spc. McGinnis was the
26 gunner in a Humvee patrolling in Baghdad when someone from a
27 rooftop threw a grenade into the vehicle; and
28 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis's unit commander has shared that Spc.
29 McGinnis did not have time to discard the grenade from the
30 vehicle, so Spc. McGinnis used his own body to shield the other
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1 four soldiers in the Humvee from the blast; and
2 WHEREAS, The four other soldiers sustained only minor
3 injuries from the grenade; and
4 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis died not only giving his life for his
5 country, but also, through his actions, for his fellow soldiers;
6 and
7 WHEREAS, Remembered by many in the Knox community, Spc.
8 McGinnis has been described as a hometown hero; and
9 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis bravely and heroically served his
10 country in Iraq so that he could protect his family, friends and
11 all Americans who cherish freedom, and he made the ultimate
12 sacrifice in that endeavor; and
13 WHEREAS, For his heroic efforts, Spc. McGinnis was
14 posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star Medal,
15 the army's third highest honor; and
16 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis has been nominated for the Medal of
17 Honor, the highest award for heroism in combat; and
18 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis is being laid to rest in Arlington
19 National Cemetery in Virginia; and
20 WHEREAS, Spc. McGinnis, beloved son of Romayne and Thomas
21 McGinnis, brother of Becky and Katie, grandson of Rosalind
22 Knight, and special friend of Christina Wendel of Ganheim,
23 Bavaria, in Germany, was courageously serving his country at the
24 time of his death; therefore be it
25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life
26 and extend condolences for the supreme sacrifice of Spc. Ross A.
27 McGinnis, who died December 4, 2006, in Operation Iraqi Freedom;
28 and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives pay tribute to
30 and honor the memory of Spc. McGinnis, with gratitude for his
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1 courage, leadership and selflessness in fighting for freedom on
2 behalf of the citizens of this great nation; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
4 the family of Spc. Ross A. McGinnis.
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