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SEMPER FI, SGT. RYAN
Semper Fi! These two words, short for Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful), is the motto of the United States Marine Corps. It also serves as a greeting between Marines, a Battle Cry and a way of life. It is a commitment Marines share between each other, our country and our Corps. It is a commitment truly understood by our neighbor, Sgt. Eddie Ryan.
In April of last year, 21 year old, Eddie Ryan, of Ellenville, was a Marine sniper on a rooftop in Ramadi, Iraq, when two rounds of 50 caliber machine gun fire ripped through his head and shredded parts of his brain. I can’t imagine how anyone can survive the effects of the kind of destruction a "50" can inflict on the human brain, but fellow Marines, on that rooftop, (and Eddie’s will) kept him alive. |
Since then he has been in four hospitals, with the last 11 months spent in Rockland’s Helen Hayes Hospital.
On Friday, August 11, 2006, Eddie Ryan went home. He will have round-the-clock nursing and will continue his rehabilitation program. He has a long way to go and he has traveled so far to get to this point. But, he has a goal. And, that goal has at its core, Semper Fi.
I visited Eddie while he was at Helen Hayes, with a buddy, George Rumelt, former Commandant of the Rockland Detachment of the Marine Corps League. We brought some gifts – mementos, really – things that would have significance to a Marine. His mom asked him how he felt about our visit and our concern and he responded with the same one-word answer he gave each time he was visited and given the other mementos that lined the shelf behind his bed, "Motivated." Let me tell you about "motivated." Sgt. Eddie Ryan, USMC, has one goal, to return to active duty with his fellow Marines. George and I like to think we’re "tough old birds," but we had to excuse ourselves so Eddie wouldn’t see the tears welling up in our eyes; the same tears that are there as I write this.
Where do we find such men, such young men and women? What gives them the courage to be so "motivated?" What gives them the strength to survive such tragic invasion of their bodies? I think it’s Semper Fi. I think it’s being faithful to oneself and things greater than self. And, while it epitomizes the essence of the Marine Corps, it is not exclusive to Marines. There are tens of thousands of service men and women, from every branch of our nation’s armed forces, who have had their bodies maimed and shattered in Iraq and Afghanistan and Viet Nam and Korea and all the battlefields of all the wars in which we’ve fought. Men and women who "fought" unbearable odds to regain the use of those bodies, to regain the use of their lives.
So, Semper Fi, Sgt. Ryan. Semper Fi to all the Eddie Ryans, no matter in which branch they serve. Semper Fi and thank you. May we, the civilians, find our own courage to be faithful to all of you. May we be worthy of you, someday, greeting us with, "Semper Fi."
— Al Samuels
The following organizations are accepting donations for Sgt. Eddie Ryan and other wounded veterans:
Edward Joseph Ryan II
c/o M&T Bank,
80 North Main Street
Ellenville, NY 12428
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Wounded Warrior Project
711 5th Street NE,
Roanoke, VA 24016
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