© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Telling The Story Of 'The Hardest Hit Unit In Iraq'

Journalist Kelly Kennedy embedded with Charlie Company's 26th Infantry Regiment for several months in 2007. She spent hours with the soldiers out on patrol, and now relates their worst and best days in her new book, They Fought For Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq.

The unit lost 14 men in Iraq, including nine soldiers who were killed when their Bradley fighting vehicles were hit by IEDs. Before Kennedy's arrival, another solider -- 19-year-old Ross McGinnis -- died after he threw himself on a grenade to save four of his friends. Kennedy talked to many of McGinnis' fellow soldiers about the incident, and tells Terry Gross what happened.

"On Dec. 4, they were out on patrol, and the grenade came in right in through Ross' turret -- he was the gunner -- and he sees it and he tries to catch it. He's chasing it around the turret, and he's yelling 'Grenade,' trying to get the guys out of the truck, and no one really understood what was happening," Kennedy says.

"They didn't have time to react, but Ross knew what was going on ... and then one of the other guys saw the grenade and watched as Ross threw himself against it and took the brunt of the force of the grenade and died instantly -- but saved four of his friends."

McGinnis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and one of the soldiers he saved -- Staff Sgt. Ian Newland -- promised "to never waste the gift" he received that day, as Kennedy wrote in the Army Times. Her series for the paper, called Blood Brothers, followed the 26th Infantry during their time in Iraq -- as well as the issues they faced after arriving home.

Kennedy covers medical and health issues for Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Times and Air Force Times. Her writing has also appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, The (Portland) Oregonian and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.