By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Spc. J.R. Ross laughs with his stepmother, Melanie Ross, during a visit Wednesday to a Newport bar owned by a family friend. (Patrick Reddy photo)

NEWPORT - Let valor not fail.

His Army unit's motto is tattooed - in Latin - across J.R. Ross' stomach and represented in the Bronze Star he wears on his dress uniform.

But the 23-year-old Army specialist in the 101st Airborne Division didn't need the tattoo or medal to prove his valor - his actions did.

Ross, who graduated from Conner High School in Hebron, saved hundreds of soldiers from a suicide car bomber who tried to blow up a base in Talafar, Iraq, in December.

This week he returned home to Northern Kentucky a celebrity, appearing on the same television morning shows with Pete Rose. And though many called him a hero, it's a title he shuns.

"All the articles back here said I don't consider myself a hero, and I don't," he said.

He was awarded the Bronze Star with a V for valor, which is given for combat heroism.

"I've been told, 'You were the right person at the right place at the right time,' " Ross said. "I'm not saying that any of my platoon wouldn't have done that same thing. ... I had a split second to react to it and make the call myself."

Ross was 15 minutes into his four-hour shift in the guard tower early Dec. 9 when he saw a car driving toward the base.

"I seen him come all the way down the street - then he actually didn't turn, he started accelerating speed," Ross said. "That's when I knew he was coming through and he wasn't going to stop."

As the car sped toward the base, Ross fired more than 100 rounds in 30 seconds until the vehicle blew up just outside the barracks where hundreds of soldiers were sleeping. The car was loaded with 1,000 pounds of explosives.

Ross wasn't injured, but 64 of his fellow soldiers were, four seriously.

Ross has since been honored by Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; numerous military commanders; and Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky.

Being home this week meant spending time with family and friends, eating fast food, and driving.

"Driving was a big thing," he said. Because he sold his car before he went overseas, his family rented a car for him. He took off on Interstate 275.

"I didn't know where I was going," he said. "I was just being by myself - being in a car, driving."

Wednesday, he hung with friends and shot pool in a Newport bar owned by a family friend. Tuesday he got a tattoo of his unit's motto: Ne Desit Virtus - "Let valor not fail."

But his freedom was short-lived. Today, he will return to his base at Fort Campbell.

And in June, he will deploy to Korea for a year to 18 months. Ross re-enlisted in the Army just after the explosion at his base, at a time when many of his fellow soldiers told him they were getting out.

His response to them: "Yeah, I have been through hard times over here, but at the same time I help keep you all safe when you all are back in the U.S. sleeping at nighttime."

He hopes to go to Army Ranger school, airborne school and make the Army his career.

"I'm definitely not in it for the money," he said. "There's a lot to get from wearing this uniform - honor, that's a lot of it."

He chose to go to Korea, where he was stationed for a year before his deployment to Iraq, because he liked the training he received there.

"I would rather go to Korea than go to Iraq. At least in Korea ... you don't have someone firing at you every night," he said.

In Iraq, the soldiers never knew who the enemy was, he said. Almost every night someone would fire at them while on patrol, and every person who walked up to the base's gate could be a suicide bomber.

"We are not so much fighting an army over there, we are just fighting individual people," he said. "You just never know - it could be anybody walking down the street. You just don't know."

E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com