Friday, June 09 2006 @ 05:50 AM EDT
Contributed by: River97
Views: 1,256
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 www.dfw.com -- DALLAS - For 1st Lt. Ryan T. Sanders, military service was a family tradition.
Sanders had two brothers who served in the Persian Gulf region: Jeff Sanders, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne during the Gulf War; and Capt. Greg Sanders, who is stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., with the 2nd Calvary.
Still, his father said Lt. Sanders was an independent thinker who made his own decisions.
"He wasn't swayed by his brothers, but I just think he wanted to contribute just like they had. This was his way of doing it," Jim Sanders of Richardson told The Dallas Morning News.
Lt. Sanders, 27, of College Station, and Sgt. Daniel R. Gionet, 23, of Pelham, N.H., died Sunday when a bomb exploded near their tank during combat operations, the military said.
Both soldiers were assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood.
Lt. Sanders, who was born in Creve Coeur, Mo., grew up in Richardson. He was an Eagle Scout who attended Texas A&M University, where he received a bachelor's degrees in English and sociology in 2001 and a master's degree in English in 2004.
Paul Parrish, head of the school's English Department, said he hasn't seen many graduate students make plans to enter the military after receiving their degrees. Parrish taught Sanders in a Shakespeare class.
"He saw it (the military) as a way of developing himself and as a leadership opportunity," Parrish said in Friday editions of the Bryan-College Station Eagle. "One can only, at that point, wish a student well."
Parrish sent an e-mail to the faculty about Sanders' death and said he received many responses from professors who recalled the student.
"It's a very sad time in the department," Parrish said. "It's not an experience we've had before in this personal way, and we're all trying to deal with it."
In June 2001, Sanders married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer Graham. They were active members of First Baptist Church of Richardson.
He joined the Army in 2004 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant after attending officer training school at Fort Benning, Ga.
"I think Ryan saw the Army as a challenge," Jim Sanders said. "He wanted to make a difference in Iraq with the world situation."
The soldier was deployed to Iraq in December and was due home later this month for a two-week leave, according to his family.
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Sir, I would like to say thank you to you and the other soldier who was killed in that blast for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
A grateful citizen