John J. McGinty III passes

The sad news comes to us that Medal of Honor recipient, Captain John J. McGinty III has passed at the age of 73. He was a staff sergeant on July 15th, 1966 when he and his battalion landed on a hot LZ where they had expected VC guerrillas, but, instead bumped into a regiment of North Vietnamese regulars. His citation tells the tale;

2d Lt. McGinty’s platoon, which was providing rear security to protect the withdrawal of the battalion from a position which had been under attack for 3 days, came under heavy small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire from an estimated enemy regiment. With each successive human wave which assaulted his 32-man platoon during the 4-hour battle, 2d Lt. McGinty rallied his men to beat off the enemy. In 1 bitter assault, 2 of the squads became separated from the remainder of the platoon. With complete disregard for his safety, 2d Lt. McGinty charged through intense automatic weapons and mortar fire to their position. Finding 20 men wounded and the medical corpsman killed, he quickly reloaded ammunition magazines and weapons for the wounded men and directed their fire upon the enemy. Although he was painfully wounded as he moved to care for the disabled men, he continued to shout encouragement to his troops and to direct their fire so effectively that the attacking hordes were beaten off. When the enemy tried to out-flank his position, he killed 5 of them at point-blank range with his pistol. When they again seemed on the verge of overrunning the small force, he skillfully adjusted artillery and air strikes within 50 yards of his position. This destructive firepower routed the enemy, who left an estimated 500 bodies on the battlefield. 2d Lt. McGinty’s personal heroism, indomitable leadership, selfless devotion to duty, and bold fighting spirit inspired his men to resist the repeated attacks by a fanatical enemy, reflected great credit upon himself, and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.

The Washington Post says that McGinty became a devout Christian when he returned from Vietnam, shying away from wearing the Medal of Honor because the medal bears the image of the Roman goddess Minerva; “The medal is a form of idolatry because it has a false god on it.”

God is getting Himself a heck of an Army up there.

Category: Blue Skies