Army Sgt. Ryan C. Young

Died December 2, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Corona, Calif.; assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kan.; died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., of wounds he sustained Nov. 8, 2003, when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq.

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Ryan C. Young showed his fun-loving spirit in the way he wooed Sarah Smith in high school: He played practical jokes on her, tying her shoelaces together and poking holes in her soda cans. But there was more than that between him and the young woman who would become his wife.

“We had a bond I won’t have with another person,” she said. “It’s a stronger bond than anyone will ever know.”

Sgt. Young, 21, of Corona, Calif., died Dec. 2 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds he received in November when his vehicle was struck by a bomb in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., and had been deployed to Iraq in December.

Young’s mother, Kathi Cutshall, said her son was proud to be serving in the Army.

“He was so excited to go to Iraq,” Cutshall said. “That’s what he was trained to do. He wanted to protect this country.”

— Associated Press