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Ryan M Lumley |
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Lakeland, Florida |
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December 3, 2011 |
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Killed in Wardak province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. |
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Army Spc. Ryan M. Lumley honored in dignified transfer Dec. 5 |
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| Spc. Ryan M. Lumley, 21, of Lakeland, Fla., died Dec. 3, in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Bliss, Texas. "Specialist Lumley was a guy who cared about his buddies," said Spc. Josue Gonzalez-Cruz, who served in the same squad since arriving at the unit in 2009. "When we deployed, he seemed to hit a whole new gear that I didn't even know was in him." | ||||||||
| From The El Paso Times elpasotimes.com 12/14/11: Fort Bliss soldier killed in Afghanistan attack was loyal to family, friends by Ramón Rentería \ El Paso Times POSTED: 12/14/2011 12:00:00 AM MST Army Spc. Ryan M. Lumley didn't like the timing of his recent deployment to Afghanistan -- his first. He felt the September deployment from Fort Bliss was too fresh into his marriage. He had exchanged wedding vows earlier in the year, on March 11. "But he did go over there and fight for our country," his wife, Kimber Lumley, said Tuesday. "He'd been training for this for 2½ years. What did you want him to do?" Lumley, 21, of Lakeland, Fla., died Dec. 3 in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, along with Spc. Thomas J. Mayberry, 21, of Springville, Calif., and Sgt. 1st Class Clark A. Corley Jr., 35, of Oxnard, Calif. Enemy forces attacked their unit with a roadside bomb. The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Bliss. A memorial service for the three soldiers is scheduled at 11 a.m. today in Chapel One on post. "Our three soldiers gave the last full measure of devotion for what they believed in and fought for every single one of us," said Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss. "Freedom is definitely not free. " On Tuesday, Lumley's wife and mother reminisced about the young man from Florida who loved hanging out with his many friends and family. "I don't know anybody that didn't like him," Kimber Lumley said. "He was a damn good soldier but also a damn good man." Lumley was in Dallas on the way to Shreveport, La., to visit her father when the Army started looking for her to deliver the dreaded news. She was notified the next day, a Sunday. "It's your biggest fear that they're going to come knocking on your door every day, every night," she said. "But at the same time you never think it's going to be you." Kimber Lumley met Ryan in El Paso. "I fell in love with him within 24 hours," she said. "He was laid back, liked to fish and loved sports. He was a Florida boy through and through." Lumley described her husband as a young man who dreamed of someday leaving the service and studying business. Nothing mattered more to him than his family and friends. A month before Ryan was deployed, Lumley miscarried his child. He was scheduled to return home next July. "We were planning on trying again when he came back from deployment," Lumley said. "I loved the way I felt when he hugged me." Ryan Lumley was born on May 8, 1990, in North Carolina, six weeks premature, and looking a little yellowish because of jaundice. He checked in at 18 inches long and weighed a little more than 5 pounds. His mother Jodi Barry, 49, once joked that Ryan looked like E.T. when he was born. The premature birth affected the vision in one of his eyes. "He was my world and always will be," Barry said. "He was a wonderful son, a sensitive man, just very friendly. He wore his heart on his sleeve." Barry has received condolences from Ryan's friends and others across the United States. The oldest of four siblings, Ryan helped his mother with the younger children after his parents divorced. "He thought he was the man of the house, always bossy and very protective of us," Barry said. "He never gave me any trouble." Ryan grew up in Cedar Key, Fla., a small, tightknit island community off the west coast of Florida about 65 miles west of Gainesville. He liked being outdoors, fishing, riding four wheelers and camping, often building tree forts in the woods. In high school, he is still remembered as the track star who broke a shot put record that still stands. He graduated from Cedar Key High School in 2008 with 11 other students. Barry said she appreciated how the Army made her son "strong and proud and made him stand up tall." She spent a week in El Paso with him before he was deployed. "I used to joke with him," she said. "I'm going to write you a note that says: 'Please excuse Ryan from Afghanistan. Mom.' " As a boy, Ryan once broke a car window in his mother's car with his BB gun. He reported the incident but didn't fess up as the one responsible. "I have tons of those stories. That's what's comforting me right now," Barry said. "This still doesn't seem real to me." Army Spc. Ryan Lumley will be buried Saturday at the Florida National Cemetery. Kimber Lumley will never forget the last thing Ryan said to her the last time they talked on Skype. He seemed happy and said goodbye as usual with the familiar big grin on his face. He told her, "I love you like a penguin loves ice." |
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| From The Gainsville Sun gainesville.com 12/08/11: Cedar Key High grad killed in Afghanistan By Cindy Swirko Staff writers Published: Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 2:07 p.m. The Department of Defense announced Thursday afternoon that a Cedar Key High School graduate was one of three soldiers killed in Afghanistan earlier this month. The remains of Army Specialist Ryan M. Lumley, 21, most recently of Lakeland, were returned to the United States at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday. In a news release, the federal agency said Lumley and two soldiers from California were fatally wounded Dec. 3 in Wardak province. “Enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device,” the news release states. All three solders were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, of Fort Bliss, Texas. Lumley graduated from Cedar Key in 2008 and enlisted in the Army soon afterward, according to school records. Within months of Lumley’s graduation from CKHS, his mother and her three other children moved out of the area, going first to Texas, officials said, and then moving to a northern state. According to Army officials, Lumley had been living in Lakeland prior to his deployment. School officials said they remember Lumley as a good kid who was pleasant to be around. The family was not originally from Cedar Key, but school officials said Lumley was active in sports and clubs there. “He did discus and shot put — he still holds our school record in shot put,” said CKHS history teacher and track coach Brad Penney. “He was a great kid, a hard worker. He was a fun-loving kid but a hard worker at discus and shot put — he really worked on his technique. His senior year he was interested in going into the military and looked forward to it.” Penney said he is broken up by Lumley’s death and lauded him for serving his country. CKHS Principal Sue Ice and guidance counselor Jennie Lynn Hudson-Lane said Lumley was polite and mannerly. He was a good student academically, they added. “He was a very likable student — well-liked by all of his classmates,” Ice said. “He was active in extra-curricular activities. I just think of him as a very good citizen. We’re all very upset about it.” “He was very nice, very polite, had great manners,” Hudson-Lane added. “He was thoughtful, clean-cut and well-groomed.” Copyright © 2015 Gainesville.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only. |
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| From ABC7 Los Angeles abc7.com 12/08/11: OXNARD SERGEANT KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN IED ATTACK Sgt. First Class Clark A. Corley Jr., from Oxnard, was one of three soldiers killed in an IED attack in Afghanistan. December 8, 2011 12:00:00 AM PST OXNARD, Calif. -- A U.S. Army soldier from Oxnard died from wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device attack in Warduk Province in eastern Afghanistan Dec. 3. Sgt. First Class Clark A. Corley Jr., from Oxnard, was one of three soldiers killed in the attack. Spc. Ryan M. Lumley, from Lakeland, Fla., and Spc. Thomas J. Mayberry, from Springville, Calif., were also killed in the attack. All were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas. According to the Army, Corley, 35, was an Infantryman (MOS 11B) who entered the Army December 1995. He was previously stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Irwin, Calif., Fort Lee, Va., Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Camp Hovey, Korea, and Fort Hood, Texas. Corley's military education includes Hazardous Materials Certification, Radiological Safety, Action Officer Development Course and Sling Load Inspection Certification. Corley's awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal-Fourth Award, National Defense Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal with a Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Infantryman Badge. Corley is survived by his spouse and one child. A memorial ceremony in honor of the fallen soldiers will be coordinated and announced at a later date, according to the Army. |
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