McGinnis exemplifies a mindset which is both incomprehensible and unimaginable to all who have not been in such a situation. When faced with a life or death situation, with an escape route both simple and available, and against every instinct of self-preservation, he chose death - and, in doing so, allowed the four other men with him to keep their lives.

"He was that kind of person," said Michael Blair, a fellow 1-26 infantryman. "He would rather take it himself than have his buddies go down."

We all take comfort, solace, and heart in the knowledge that there are men like Ross McGinnis in this great country, who are willing to give everything for their fellow man. However, our detachment from the situation allows us to contemplate such things far more abstractly than we would be able to were we directly involved.

For what consolation can a grieving mother take, knowing that she will never again greet the son she raised from infancy; that never again will he be home for Christmas, never again will she hear his voice on the phone, never again will she hold him in her arms? What comfort can a father take in knowing that his only son, not yet out of his teenage years, has predeceased him – that he must linger, while the young flesh of his flesh has perished?

This is a question that has been contemplated since time immemorial. Words of comfort, which are more than difficult to come by in such a situation, come to mind in the form of a letter written to one such parent many, many years ago. The writer was Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and the recipient was Mrs. Lydia Bixby, who had lost five - five - sons to the bloody fighting of the American Civil War. Mr. Lincoln wrote, on November 21, 1864:

"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom."

We can only hope and pray that when Tom and Rebecca McGinnis think of their son Ross, which they will always do with a sorrow that none but a parent can know, they will dwell not on the life that was lost, but on those that were saved - and that they focus not on the act that took his life, but on the manner in which he conducted himself in willingly giving it. The fact that their son committed the ultimate act of love, heroism, sacrifice, and selflessness, giving his life that others might live, may be little comfort to a grieving parent. However, it is no small achievement, no mean feat, and is worthy of nothing but the highest possible recognition from the grateful nation that he died serving.

And he may yet receive the highest recognition that America can offer him. Due to the unparalleled heroism with which he conducted himself, PFC Ross McGinnis has been submitted for the Medal of Honor. We can only hope that the earthly memory of his final act is justly served, and that his nomination is quickly approved.

Ross's posthumous Silver Star was presented to his parents at a memorial service, held with full military honors, on December 17 in Knox, PA. Most deservingly, his final resting place will be Arlington National Cemetery, where he will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by those fallen heroes who already await him there.