GyBill
04-23-2005, 18:23
By ERNIE GARCIA
elgarcia@thejournalnews.c om
THE JOURNAL NEWS
April 23, 2005)
YONKERS - Ed Ryan, owner of Palmer Dairy on Palmer Road, never had any sons of his own, but he always thought of his two nephews, cousins serving in Iraq, as the boys he never had.
One of those "sons," 21-year-old Marine Cpl. Ed Ryan, now is fighting for his life at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., after taking two shots to the head last week in Iraq, Ryan, 56, said yesterday.
"He volunteered for the hardest jobs," Ryan said, noting that Cpl. Ryan and another nephew, Randall Ryan, were inspired to join the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "They felt they had to be there to help the Iraqi people be free, and they both said that freedom is not free."
Cpl. Ryan, a Marine sniper, was hit with one bullet in the chin and another bullet that pierced his helmet and lodged in his brain, his uncle said. Cpl. Ryan was not from Yonkers, but his family has almost 100 years of history in the city, his uncle said.
A Marine spokesman would not confirm Ryan's injuries or the circumstances, citing privacy rules. Ryan, the uncle, said his nephew is in an intensive-care unit at the medical center with his parents, Christopher and Angela Ryan, by his bedside.
Lt. Col. T.S. Mundy - Cpl. Ryan's commander at Camp Gannon in Al Qa'im, Iraq - posted a letter dated April 16 on a U.S. Marine Corps Web site saying Ryan was injured in a significant insurgent attack last week.
"My prayers are with him and his family at this time, because his condition is very grave. All the members of the 3/2 (3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Division) grieve our fallen comrade," Mundy wrote.
Some 50 to 100 insurgents attacked the Marines' camp near the Syrian border April 11 with suicide bombs, mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Though the attack was intense, Marines resisted it with few casualties while killing 19 insurgents and wounding 15. An unknown number of Iraqi civilians also died in the attacks.
Cpl. Ryan lived in Ellenville, Ulster County, and graduated from Ellenville High School in 2002, according to the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y. He was a member of the Ellenville Assembly of God Church, which had a prayer service for him April 13.
Ed Ryan and his nephew are both named after Edward Ryan, a former Yonkers police officer in the 2nd Precinct. Yesterday at his market, Ed Ryan described his nephew as a deeply religious man who ministered to his fellow servicemen. He said that Cpl. Ryan completed sniper training in August and had just six months left on his tour of duty.
The Ryan family has appealed to the Marines to allow Randall Ryan, a 21-year-old Marine helicopter mechanic, to return to the United States from Al Asad Air Base in Iraq so that he can visit his cousin. Ed Ryan said his family also is focused on praying for Cpl. Ryan as he struggles for survival.
"What we're doing now is, we're praying for every little movement," he said. "We specifically target that problem with our prayers. He's seriously wounded and in grave condition. We're hoping he will become a miracle Marine and pull through it and stay with us a long time."
elgarcia@thejournalnews.c om
THE JOURNAL NEWS
April 23, 2005)
YONKERS - Ed Ryan, owner of Palmer Dairy on Palmer Road, never had any sons of his own, but he always thought of his two nephews, cousins serving in Iraq, as the boys he never had.
One of those "sons," 21-year-old Marine Cpl. Ed Ryan, now is fighting for his life at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., after taking two shots to the head last week in Iraq, Ryan, 56, said yesterday.
"He volunteered for the hardest jobs," Ryan said, noting that Cpl. Ryan and another nephew, Randall Ryan, were inspired to join the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "They felt they had to be there to help the Iraqi people be free, and they both said that freedom is not free."
Cpl. Ryan, a Marine sniper, was hit with one bullet in the chin and another bullet that pierced his helmet and lodged in his brain, his uncle said. Cpl. Ryan was not from Yonkers, but his family has almost 100 years of history in the city, his uncle said.
A Marine spokesman would not confirm Ryan's injuries or the circumstances, citing privacy rules. Ryan, the uncle, said his nephew is in an intensive-care unit at the medical center with his parents, Christopher and Angela Ryan, by his bedside.
Lt. Col. T.S. Mundy - Cpl. Ryan's commander at Camp Gannon in Al Qa'im, Iraq - posted a letter dated April 16 on a U.S. Marine Corps Web site saying Ryan was injured in a significant insurgent attack last week.
"My prayers are with him and his family at this time, because his condition is very grave. All the members of the 3/2 (3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Division) grieve our fallen comrade," Mundy wrote.
Some 50 to 100 insurgents attacked the Marines' camp near the Syrian border April 11 with suicide bombs, mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Though the attack was intense, Marines resisted it with few casualties while killing 19 insurgents and wounding 15. An unknown number of Iraqi civilians also died in the attacks.
Cpl. Ryan lived in Ellenville, Ulster County, and graduated from Ellenville High School in 2002, according to the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y. He was a member of the Ellenville Assembly of God Church, which had a prayer service for him April 13.
Ed Ryan and his nephew are both named after Edward Ryan, a former Yonkers police officer in the 2nd Precinct. Yesterday at his market, Ed Ryan described his nephew as a deeply religious man who ministered to his fellow servicemen. He said that Cpl. Ryan completed sniper training in August and had just six months left on his tour of duty.
The Ryan family has appealed to the Marines to allow Randall Ryan, a 21-year-old Marine helicopter mechanic, to return to the United States from Al Asad Air Base in Iraq so that he can visit his cousin. Ed Ryan said his family also is focused on praying for Cpl. Ryan as he struggles for survival.
"What we're doing now is, we're praying for every little movement," he said. "We specifically target that problem with our prayers. He's seriously wounded and in grave condition. We're hoping he will become a miracle Marine and pull through it and stay with us a long time."