In Memoriam

His smile.

It was given to his teachers, his friends, his platoon members and his parents.

It is one of the first things those who knew him remember about 1st Lt. Ryan Jones. And as they are each asked to remember the man who died too young in service of his country, the memory of that smile allows them to smile despite the grief.

1st Lt. Ryan Jones was a member of the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade combat team, 1st Infantry Division of Fort Riley. He had been serving in Baghdad, Iraq, for the last three months. He is one of the more than 3,350 members of the American Armed Forces to lose his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His service, his honor and his smile will not be forgotten by those who knew him. Nor will those qualities be forgotten by those who learned of Ryan only after his death.

He has left a lasting memory on his friends and his family because of the impact he had on their lives. They are the only ones who will know the hole and the mark left on their lives by Ryan's death.

We will never know the amount of good or the number of lives Ryan saved during his deployment.

But we will know that in the last few months of his life while serving overseas in a war zone, Ryan also left an impact on an 8-year-old boy, a mother and a teacher by taking the time to write a letter.

That letter showed the 8-year-old that not only are the members of the United States military heroes because they protect our country and defend our culture. It also showed the young boy - and the rest of us - that many of the individual men and women who comprise our military are heroes for their actions beyond the uniform.

These are the actions of a man with a good heart and a good upbringing.

Ryan gave for our country what most of us never would - his life.

Thank you 1st Lt. Ryan Jones, and God bless you and your family.