Army Spc. Ryan M. Bell

Died March 5, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Colville, Wash.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 5 in Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Justin M. Estes, Staff Sgt. Robert M. Stanley, Sgt. Andrew C. Perkins, Spc. Justin A. Rollins and Pfc. Cory C. Kosters.

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Fort Bragg paratrooper dreamed of becoming a doctor

The Associated Press

COLVILLE, Wash. — Spc. Ryan Bell joined the Army hoping to eventually become a doctor. That dream was cut short this week when a bomb exploded near the Fort Bragg paratrooper’s vehicle in Iraq, killing him and five other soldiers.

The 21-year-old from Colville attended the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga. He graduated in 2003 and had many college scholarship offers, said his father, Michael Bell of Colville. Instead, the younger Bell decided to join the Army, hoping his training and GI bill would help him become a doctor.

“There’s no regrets at this end,” Michael Bell said. “He was a responsible young man, he was sensible, he knew what he wanted to do with his life.”

The young man joined the Army in 2004 and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., in January 2005. He was a member of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

His father said he enjoyed outdoor recreation, singing, dancing and watching sports. “He was a walking sports encyclopedia,” Michael Bell said.

The two last talked March 3.

“I let him know how much he meant to us,” Bell said. “How we were very proud of him and very pleased with what he was doing with his life.”

Since his son’s death March 5 in Iraq’s Salahuddin province, Michael Bell said he’s heard from staff members at his son’s military academy, been stopped on the street in town and even taken a call from Iraq from his son’s commanding officer.

The officer told him “he had served alongside Ryan and that he could always count on him to do what he’s supposed to be doing.”

Bell is survived by his wife, Terri, of Fayetteville, N.C.; mother Sheryl Vickery, of Spokane; father, and stepmother Virginia Bell, of Colville.

A military-style funeral is planned later this month in eastern Washington.