- "My lab was raided. They took my samples, my research, all on the orders of General McGinnis."
- ―Howard Stark to Peggy Carter[src]
Brigadier General John McGinnis was a high-ranking officer of the United States Army during World War II.
Biography[]
In 1944, McGinnis raided the labs of Howard Stark, in order to confiscate the Midnight Oil. As the gas was designed to relieve people's need to sleep for many days straight, McGinnis deployed the gas on the Soviet 478th Rifle Division outside of Finow with the intention that it would increase their chances of taking Finow from the Wehrmacht. What General McGinnis did not know was that the gas also caused symptoms that resulted from sleep deprivation, like anger, hallucinations, psychosis. That resulted in the so-called Battle of Finow, where the Soviet soldiers slaughtered each other, leading to the near-complete annihilation of the whole division.[1]
After the battle, Stark flew to Finow to witness the results. He became so shocked that he decided to assault General McGinnis, despite being physically inferior to the general. In an act of self-defense, McGinnis beat up Stark in front of his men.[2] Following the assault, McGinnis resigned, and did everything in his power to cover up the incident. He died of a heart attack in 1946.[3]