I think it was George Orwell who said it best...

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
~George Orwell

During a recent phone conversation with my dad, he quoted George Orwell.  I think it fits in describing how I feel about our experience with Ryan's death.  Not to say that Ryan was a "rough man" but seriously, how many people do I know who would/could do what he and other soldiers do?  For that I will be forever and ever grateful.

Earlier this month we were invited to attend a special memorial in Fort Riley, Kansas, where Ryan had been stationed.  The rest of his troop came home this month as well, so it was an extremely bittersweet experience for our family.

We drove to Kansas and met up with David, Lynette, Michelle, Jenn, and Matt.  We were treated wonderfully by the Army; we had escorts at our beck and call, we were given the opportunity to tour the base a little bit, and were very well taken care of.

And thank you, Jenn, for the pictures, which I totally stole from your Facebook.  I only managed to take one measly photo before my battery quit.

 The morning of the memorial, we were taken to a beautiful church on the base (or Post as they call it).  Please don't mind my silly face below; it was the only picture with our Army escorts in the background.  They were the coolest guys!

 The memorial itself was nice.  Ryan was honored alongside SFC Murray, whose body Ryan was retrieving when he was hit with the IED.  I had a hard time with the Last Roll Call, a part of the ceremony where a soldier calls out the name of the deceased.  That was tough.

 After the memorial and a lunch, we were given a tour of the First Infantry Division museum.  Ryan will eventually have a brick placed at the museum in his memory.

 The next night Mike and his family went to the ceremony where all the soldiers are reunited with their families, called the Redeployment.  I kept the children at the hotel because of the late hour.  I imagined it would be very difficult for them, with all the joyful reunions happening around them.  But Mike said they were treated very well, and everyone was respectful of them.

The next morning we were invited to a luncheon with all of the soldiers who were with Ryan the night of the incident.  It was very interesting meeting those who knew him best as a soldier, and those who fought alongside him.  We met a soldier who was supposed to be on the mission, the soldier who Ryan volunteered to replace that night.  And we spoke with the other soldiers who were carrying Murray's body out the night of the explosion.

These soldiers may be "rough" men willing to do "violent" things, but they are also compassionate and tender.

Just like Ryan.