Army Staff Sgt. Ian Newland spotted the enemy grenade inside the Humvee. Almost simultaneously, he saw Spc. Ross McGinnis, 19 — a gunner standing in the turret of the vehicle — lower himself onto it.
"I saw him jam it with his elbow up underneath him," says Newland, who was sitting inches away. "He pressed his whole body with his back (armor) plate to smother it up against the radios."
The heat and flash of an explosion followed, and McGinnis was killed. Hours later, after surgery for shrapnel wounds, Newland realized the gravity of what happened: McGinnis had sacrificed himself to save four other soldiers in the Humvee on Dec. 4. "Why he did it? Because we were his brothers. He loved us," Newland says.
Since the Iraq war began, at least five Americans — two soldiers, two Marines and a Navy SEAL — are believed to have thrown themselves on a grenade to save comrades. Each time, the servicemember died from massive wounds.
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Labels: Billy Joe Mills, heroes, Iraq
Altruism is that most noble of human virtues in which an individual gives of himself for the benefit of others with no perceivable gain to the actor. Unfortunately it often finds itself at odds with that other supposed virtue in our society - narrow individualism and self-interest.
or perhaps we are most altruistic when we act the most in our self-interest.
heroic to save your brothers? maybe. but that could be said about any army and every army has these stories. why not dispense with our sentimental attachment to the Troops for a little while and think about whether we want them there in the first place? I think the argument could be made even by a big americalover like yourself that at this point less troops in iraq is better.
at any rate i wouldn't call this "the good" it is a story about someone who dies because they were bamboozled into fighting a pillaging war of massively criminal proportions. maybe unprecedented in the history of democracies! at least germany DID have some historical claim on parts of poland. and the only reason it isn't as ugly or uglier than wwii is that iraq is one of the poorest countries in the world. you are a joke to still be defending or romanticizing this tragedy. if senile ronald reagan were alive HE would be laughing at you. well, no he wouldn't, but he's a criminal pig too. luckily he is senile and dead.
Erik, I think you need to read the next thing I post really closely.
Tom