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SPC Ryane G. Clark
July 13, 1988 - October 4, 2010 A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of meeting Rick and Tracy Clark, Gold Star parents of Ryane Clark. They came to pick up the portrait of their hero son. After visiting with them we feel that we have gotten to know Ryane……truly a wonderful son. Ryane grew up in New London, Minnesota and graduated from New London-Spicer High School, where he was on the wrestling team. He also had a great love for hunting and the outdoors. Ryane became an Eagle Scout at the age of fifteen. Some years prior, a friend of Ryane’s was fatally struck by a car while biking in their town. Ryane chose as his Eagle Scout Service Project to have a parking lot built where people could unload their bikes away from the busy County Road 31 where his friend had died. Sadly Ryane’s passion was no match for the bureaucratic maze that lay ahead. There were too many hurdles for a fifteen-year-old to overcome, so Ryane moved on and settled on a project at the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center where he earned his Eagle Scout award. Ryane never forgot about that first project though, and his parents (twelve years later) were able to get the funding to pave the parking lot. Flag poles and other items have been added making it a memorial to their son and his childhood friend. Ryane enlisted in the Army in 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. While serving during Operation Enduring Freedom insurgents attacked his unit. Ryane was a passenger in a lead vehicle of a convoy that was struck by an RPG (rocket propelled grenade), and was killed instantly. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and brothers and sisters in arms. Ryane’s father states that it was his son’s dream since he was five years old to serve in the military. He was very goal orientated and wanted to make a difference. Surely he did! And we thank him and his family for their supreme sacrifice. Portrait sponsored by: |