Fallen Montana Hero

D.O.D. Announces Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. James A. McHale, 31, of Fairfield, Mont., died July 30 at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered July 22 in Taji, Iraq, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 40th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.

 

Great Falls Tribune — Family and friends flew to a Maryland military hospital Tuesday to say goodbye to a Fairfield man who was critically injured in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded beside his Humvee.

Sgt. Jimmy McHale, 31, has been on life support for a week as the bombing burned both legs, his arm and hand and face. His most serious injury, however, was head trauma, and he has been in a coma since the July 22 attack.

The vehicle driver suffered a broken leg.

After seeing a CT scan Tuesday, the family decided to remove McHale from life support today, giving family and friends time to say goodbye.

“He was just an awesome guy,” his aunt Trudy Hamann said Tuesday. “He had the biggest heart, the biggest smile. He was willing to do everything for everyone.”

The son of a retired Malmstrom airman, McHale has served in the Army since graduating from Fairfield High School, including two tours in Iraq.

His older brother, Michael, also is serving in the army in Baghdad.

Parents Joel and Bonnie McHale flew out to the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda on Thursday evening, joining their sons.

Hamann said Mike and Jimmy McHale were both brothers and best friends.

“When they were little, people would hand him a piece of candy and he asked if he could have one for his brother,” she said. “He wouldn’t take a piece of candy unless his brother could have one, too.”

Jimmy McHale never married or had children, but was a proud uncle of two.

As soon as the Fairfield community learned of McHale’s injury, neighbors and friends began prayer chains, hoping that he would pull through.

“We’re just shocked,” Hamann said. “Bonnie and Joel say we do believe in miracles, but we know at this point there really can’t be a miracle.

“He’s soon going to be out of his suffering.”

Last summer during a break, Jimmy McHale wanted nothing more than to spend the week camping and fishing in the Benchmark area.

His family joined him and Hamann told him she respected his decision to serve in the military.

“He said to me, ‘It’s one thing I can say I’m proud of — to be over there fighting for freedom. It’s a hard job. People don’t realize.’”

 

Living Hero

Many of the stories you will hear in the heroes section have a sad ending, but not all. We all know that one does not have to die to be a hero. A hero is a person distinguished by exceptional courage, honor, and strength.

Case in point Staff Sergeant Steven Gouak, United States Marine Corps E.O.D. Team Leader, who’s team was responsible for disabling 190 IEDs, 1 suicide truck bomb, and over 45 weapons caches with a net weight of 6,300 lbs.. one instance stands out from his time in Iraq. On July 2007, his team got called up to assist another EOD team in collecting explosives after a fierce fire fight. Upon arrival his team began collecting and disarming the munitions in the area. They found more than 110 IEDs, plus suicide belts on the dead bodies of the enemies, all together they found over 400 lbs. of explosives. The team began to load up the explosives when they were unexpectedly attacked by enemy forces. For two hours they were in a heated firefight against a barrage of small arms fire, and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs). In the midst of the fire fight a horrible thought came to SSgt. Gouak. What if one of the enemy rounds were to hit the pile of ordinance they had gathered? Realizing the mass destruction that would follow, Gouak seized the initiative and evacuated the ordinance from the area. Because of his quick action SSgt. Gouak stopped what could have been a slaughter of our troops that day.

Thanks to the action of SSgt. Gouak and his team many lives were saved during his tour. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his overall actions in Iraq. He is a living Hero.

 

 

Some Gave All

Silver Star Approved for Soldier Who Sacrificed Himself for Crew
American Forces Press ServiceFORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, December 12, 2006 – Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis packed only 136 pounds into his 6-foot frame, but few have ever matched his inner strength.

Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis earned the Silver Star Medal for taking the force of a grenade explosion to save his crew in Baghdad on December 4.

McGinnis sacrificed himself in an act of supreme bravery on December 4, belying his status as the youngest soldier in Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

The 19-year-old amateur mechanic from Knox, Pa., who enjoyed poker and loud music, likely saved the lives of four soldiers riding with him on a mission in Baghdad.

McGinnis was manning the gunner’s hatch when an insurgent tossed a grenade from above. It flew past McGinnis and down through the hatch before lodging near the radio. His platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas of Longview, Texas, recalled what happened next.

“Pfc. McGinnis yelled ‘Grenade! … It’s in the truck,’” Thomas said. “I looked out of the corner of my eye as I was crouching down and I saw him pin it down.” McGinnis did so even though he could have escaped. “He had time to jump out of the truck,” Thomas said. “He chose not to.”

Thomas remembered McGinnis talking about how he would respond in such a situation. McGinnis said then he didn’t know how he would act, but when the time came, he delivered. “He gave his life to save his crew and his platoon sergeant,” Thomas said. “He’s a hero. He’s a professional. He was just an awesome guy.”

Three of the soldiers with McGinnis who were wounded that day have returned to duty, while a fourth is recovering in Germany.

For saving the lives of his friends and giving up his own in the process, McGinnis earned the Silver Star. His unit comrades paid their final respects in a somber ceremony here Dec. 11.

McGinnis was born June 14, 1987, and joined the Army right after graduating from high school in 2005. He had been in the Army 18 months and made his mark even before his heroic deed.

“He was a good kid,” said C Company’s senior enlisted soldier, 1st Sgt. Kenneth J. Hendrix. “He had just gotten approved for a waiver to be promoted to specialist.” He also appeared on the Nov. 30 cover of Stars & Stripes, manning his turret.

Besides his military accomplishments, McGinnis leaves his friends andfamily with memories of a fun-loving, loyal man.

Pfc. Brennan Beck, a 1-26 infantryman from Lodi, Calif., said McGinnis made others feel better. “He would go into a room and when he left, everyone was laughing,” Beck said. “He did impersonations of others in the company. He was quick-witted, just hilarious. He loved making people laugh. He was a comedian through and through.”

While having a witty side, McGinnis took his job seriously.

“He was not a garrison soldier. He hated it back in garrison,” Beck said. “He loved it here in Iraq. He loved being a gunner. It was a thrill; he loved everything about it. He was one our best soldiers. He did a great job.”

Beck has memories of talking all night with McGinnis about where they wanted their lives to go, and said McGinnis always remembered his friends. “When I had my appendix removed, he was the only one who visited me in the hospital,” Beck said. “That meant a lot.”

Another 1-26 infantryman, Pfc. Michael Blair of Klamath Falls, Ore., recalled that McGinnis helped him when he arrived at Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt, Germany.

“When I first came to the unit, … he was there and took me in and showed me around,” Blair said. “He was real easy to talk to. You could tell him anything. He was a funny guy. He was always making somebody laugh.”

McGinnis’ final heroic act came as no surprise to Blair. “He was that kind of person,” Blair said. “He would rather take it himself than have his buddies go down.”

The brigade’s senior noncommissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. William Johnson, also had high praise for McGinnis. “Any time when you get a soldier to do something like that – to give his life to protect his fellow soldiers – that’s what heroes are made of,” Johnson said.

It also demonstrates, Johnson continued, that the ‘MySpace Generation’ has what it takes to carry on the Army’s proud traditions.

“Some think soldiers who come in today are all about themselves,” Johnson said. “I see it differently.”

The Silver Star Medal has been approved for McGinnis’s actions December 4, and will be awarded posthumously.

On June 2nd 2008 McGinnnis was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. the medal was recieved by his parents Tom and Romayne McGinnis at a White House Ceremony.