Post offices named after Medal of Honor recipient and five other soldiers

Medal of Honor recipient Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, a soldier who jumped on a grenade and sacrificed his own life to save his comrades, is one of several service members whose hometown post offices are being renamed in their honor.

President Obama signed a series of U.S. Post Office naming bills on Monday, just one day before McGinnis' birthday. On Tuesday, the soldier would have turned 29 — the same day the Army turned 241.

On Dec. 4, 2006, the young soldier gave his life while serving in Iraq with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. While out on patrol, a grenade was thrown into McGinnis’ Humvee. The 19-year-old, manning the turret at the time, was the only person in the vehicle who knew exactly where the grenade had landed.

With seconds to react, McGinnis threw himself on top of the grenade, using his body to shield his fellow soldiers from the blast. McGinnis was killed instantly, though his sacrifice was not in vain: all four of the other soldiers riding in the vehicle lived.

McGinnis’ name will now be displayed on the U.S. Post Office in his hometown of Knox, Pa.

"It does make us feel that people do appreciate the sacrifices that Ross — and thousands of others like him — made on their behalf,” said Tom McGinnis, Ross’ father, in an emailed statement to Army Times. “And since [the post office is] local and central to the borough of Knox, it will help others appreciate Ross in spite of what they might have thought of him when he was a high-spirited kid at Keystone High School."

Hometown post offices will also be renamed for these five other U.S. soldiers:
1st Lt. Salvatore S. Corma II, hometown of Wenonah, N.J. A member of 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Corma lost his life in Afghanistan on April 29, 2010, while trying to contain an IED. Corma, 24, attempted to isolate the explosion while warning other soldiers of the threat. The 2008 West Point graduate saved the lives of 18 other soldiers. Corma received the Purple Heart posthumously.
Sgt. 1st Class Terry L. Pasker, hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A member of the Iowa National Guard's 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Pasker was shot and killed by an Afghan National Directorate security officer on July 9, 2011. Pasker, 39, originally enlisted into the Army in 1990 before joining the National Guard in 1995. Pasker, who deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005, received the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Pasker lives on through his town with his newly named post office and the homes he’s built there as a carpenter.

2nd Lt. Ellen Ainsworth, hometown of Glenwood City, Wis. Ainsworth, a member of the Nurse Corps, served in Anzio, Italy during World War II as a member of the 56th Evacuation Hospital unit. She was tending to her patients when enemy shelling ripped through the hospital. Ainsworth and several other nurses guided 42 patients to safety. Ainsworth, 26, was hit with shrapnel and succumbed to her wounds on February 10, 1944. Her accolades are the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Red Cross Bronze medals. Though she was buried in Italy, Ainsworth’s portrait can be found in the Pentagon.

W. Ronald Coale, hometown of Stockton, Calif., was a veteran who served in the Korean War from 1952 until an honorable discharged in 1954. Coale passed away on April 17, 2014, at the age of 81. He is better known for his service to the Stockton community. Coale was a board member of various organizations and agencies, including the Stockton Metropolitan Transit District Board of Directors, the Stockton Salvation Army, and the Stockton Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Center.
Staff Sgt. Harold George Bennett, hometown of Perryville, Ark., was the first American Prisoner of War to be executed during the Vietnam War. He and another member of his unit were captured by Viet Cong soldiers following a firefight. Bennett, 24, tried escaping from the POW camp three times. On his third attempt, he was killed for injuring one of the prison guards apprehending him. He was awarded the Silver Star. Though his remains never returned home, Bennett’s name and memory will live on through the post office dedicated to him.

Army Times Senior Reporter Michelle Tan contributed to this report.