Marine Pfc. Ryan M. Jerabek

Died April 6, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

18, of Oneida, Wis.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed April 6 by hostile fire in Anbar province, Iraq.

* * * * *

Pulaski grad becomes state’s youngest Iraq casualty

By Andy Nelesen

Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette

HOBART, Wis. — Ryan Jerabek wanted to go to college and become a history teacher. But first he wanted to serve his country, so he joined the Marine Corps, despite his father’s protests.

In March, the 18-year-old Jerabek shipped out to Iraq and on April 6, Ken and Rita Jerabek got the news their son had been killed.

“He said, ‘Dad, maybe I can go over there and make a change,’” Ken Jerabek. “‘Maybe I can do something with the people and show them that we’re not animals here, you know.’”

Ryan Jerabek, a 2003 graduate of Pulaski High School, was killed in a firefight in Ramadi, Iraq, a region where more than 15 Marines have died in recent days. He served with the 4th Brigade’s 2nd Battalion. He was the youngest Wisconsin soldier to die since the war in Iraq started and the first Brown County death.

“The details are real sketchy,” Ken Jerabek said, sitting on a planter outside his Hobart home where the flag flew at half-staff on April 7. Military officials told the family that Ryan Jerabek was one of eight Marines killed and 20 wounded in the battle. They got the word about 8:30 p.m. on March 6 and told Ryan’s brothers: Aaron, 28, of Milwaukee, and Nick, 16, who still lives at home.

Ryan Jerabek “joined the Marine Corps and went in July,” Ken Jerabek said. “He graduated from basic training in October and came home on a leave for 14 days. He went back to Camp Pendleton and took his Advanced Infantry Training and then came back home on leave before he left for Kuwait. Three weeks in Kuwait and he went to Iraq for four weeks.

“Now we have to bring him home,” Jerabek said, his voice trailing off.

Ryan Jerabek was the second soldier from Wisconsin killed in Iraq in early April. Cpl. Jesse Thiry of Casco was also killed April 6 in Iraq. The young men were the 14th and 15th Wisconsin soldiers killed in combat.

Ryan “had his goals made,” Ken Jerabek said. “He was going to go four years in the Marine Corps, from there he was going to go to Stevens Point to become a history teacher.

“He wanted to come back and teach at Pulaski.”

Jerabek, a Vietnam-era vet who helped to get the remains of fallen soldiers home from Southeast Asia, didn’t want his son to join the military.

“He wanted to join the Marine Corps, but I was dead set against it the way the things in the world were going,” Jerabek said, noting that military officials have not provided the family with any information about the return of Ryan’s body.

“He loved what he was doing,” Ken Jerabek said. “He loved his country more than anything in the world.

“He said, ‘I’ll be all right, Dad. I’ll get good training. They’ll take good care of me.’”

* * * * *

Friend, comrade

Ryan Jerabek joined the Marines with Mike Andrews, his best friend since kindergarten. The pair went through much of their initial military training together. Andrews, now a lance corporal, is still training at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Kim Potts is dating Andrews but said her friendship with Jerabek grew stronger as her relationship with Andrews blossomed. All three graduated from Pulaski High School together.

“They were always together,” Potts said in a telephone interview from her apartment at college in West Virginia. “Our friendship got stronger and stronger. It was to the point where if (Ryan) had something wrong, he would come talk to me about it.”

Potts said Jerabek confided in her around Christmas that he thought he might be headed for Iraq.

“He was excited, but he was still scared,” Potts said. “He was concerned about how his parents would feel about him leaving.

“I was glad I could be there for him as much as I could. I know he wasn’t looking forward to it, but he knew he had a job to do.”

Jerabek didn’t have many strong pursuits before leaving for the military. Computers and paintball were two of his favorite hobbies.

Jerabek and Andrews enjoyed playing computer games together. They would ultimately decide to join the Marine Corps together.

“Ryan was big into computers he and Mike both,” Potts said. “They would sit on those things until all hours of the morning playing together.”

* * * * *

Always said ‘Hi’

Potts said Jerabek was a well-liked and nice guy.

“You could never hear him saying anything bad about anyone,” Potts said. “If he would see you out in the hall, he would say ‘Hi’ to you no matter what.

“He didn’t get involved in too many things he kind of did his own thing but he was liked by everyone.”

Jerabek was home twice since joining the military, once on leave after boot camp and then again after advanced training. Both times he wore his Marine uniform.

“He loved the Marines,” Ken Jerabek said. “He loved the uniform. He wore that uniform with so much pride it was unbelievable.”

“We talked to him Sunday,” Ken Jerabek said. “He said everything was going good. He was laughing in good spirits.

“He said, ‘Send me some more candy bars and stuff like that’ because he was giving them to the kids in Iraq.”

Rita Jerabek said her son always gave 110 percent.

“I am really proud of him,” a tearful Rita Jerabek said. “The commitment (he and Andrews) made together — to make a difference — is so very important.”

“He gave everything he had and it cost him his life,” Ken Jerabek said. “I just sometimes wish I would wake up from this. It’s a nightmare.”

* * * * *

Services Wednesday, Friday for slain Wisconsin Marines

Services have been scheduled for two Marines from northeastern Wisconsin who died in Iraq.

The funeral for Pfc. Ryan Jerabek of Hobart in Brown County will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Green Bay Community Church in Howard, with visitation at the church Thursday evening and for an hour before the service.

Jerabek, 18, was killed April 6 in Iraq in a battle with insurgents near where four Americans were killed and dragged through the streets in late March. Jerabek joined the Marines after graduating from Pulaski High School last year and had been in Iraq about a month when he was killed.

Also killed in fighting in the same region the day before was Marine Cpl. Jesse Thiry, 23, of Casco, located in Kewaunee County.

Thiry’s funeral Mass was scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Peter Catholic Church in Lincoln. A wake service was scheduled at 7 p.m. Wednesday, with visitation continuing before the funeral Thursday morning.

— Associated Press