By Francis Scarcella and Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item
---- — COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Terry Ryan Sr. waited 18 hours for official notification that his son, an Army soldier, had drowned on a domestic military installation Sunday. Today he will wait again, for his son's body to arrive in the Valley.
"Someone" on the base in Fort Carson was there when Spc. Terry L. Ryan II drowned trying to retrieve a boat in a reservoir, Ryan Sr. said Thursday. That person called a girl whom Ryan Jr. "hung out with" in Milton. She called Ryan Sr. early Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Sr. then started making calls.
"The first call I made was to his sergeant, and he didn't know anything," Ryan Sr. said. "He said he would call me back."
When Ryan Sr. did not receive a call for a few hours, he called again.
"I called back, and he said someone would be in touch. That was the last I heard until 9:30 a.m. (Monday)."
That's when military members came to Ryan Sr.'s house "to officially inform me" of his son's death.
"The hardest part of all of this was waiting to find out the truth," Ryan Sr. said. "I was just out to see him two weeks ago. I never thought this sort of thing would happen."
His son was to be discharged from the military in February.
Ryan Jr. was the father of two children.
"All of this hasn't hit me yet that this has happened — wait till he comes home," Ryan Sr. said.
"I am taking this one day at a time. I am numb."
Since being notified, Ryan Sr. has been visited by a member of the National Guard — Doug Franke, of Williamsport — every day.
"He's been wonderful," Ryan Sr. said of Franke, who is assisting with funeral arrangements. "I can't thank him enough."
Ryan Jr. was not on duty at the time of the incident, according to Randy Tisor, spokesman at Fort Carson, where Ryan served since Feb. 8, 2008.
"All I know is he somehow lost the boat when it was put into the water, and he went out to retrieve that boat," Tisor said.
The incident happened about 10:15 a.m. A Colorado newspaper reported Ryan was recovered in about an hour.
Soldiers can rent small boats from the Army for personal use, Tisor said. However, he was unsure whether Ryan had rented the boat, or if he owned it.
Ryan was with someone at the time, but Tisor did not know who the person was.
The reservoir is a very small lake, Tisor said. He knew of no current that would have pulled him under the water.
Swimming is not an automatic training one receives in the Army, and Ryan had served less than three years at the time of his death.
"We don't fight in the water," Tisor said.
The incident is still under investigation.
Ryan joined the Army on Sept. 27, 2007. He served a yearlong tour in Iraq, beginning in August 2008.
He received two Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and Driver Mechanic Badge.
He was a motor transport operator, serving in the 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Ryan Sr. will visit Fort Carson for a memorial service Aug. 18.
n E-mail comments to tpursell@dailyitem.com or fscarcella@dailyitem.com.
