Ryan D. Collins
Profile
Age: 20
From: Vernon, Texas
Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska
Incident: Army Cpl. Ryan D. Collins died May 18 in Hamiyah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire.
Died: May 18, 2007
Soldier from Texas killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
A 20-year-old soldier from the small North Texas town of Vernon has been killed in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Cpl. Ryan D. Collins died Saturday in Hamiyah after being wounded the day before when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. The circumstances of his death are being investigating, the Defense Department said.
Collins’ stepfather, David Logsdon, said that Collins grew up in Vernon and graduated from high school there in 2004, working in Logsdon’s cabinet shop for about a year before joining the military.
“He wanted to make a difference,” said Logsdon, who added that Collins wanted to make a career out of the military.
“He did love what he was doing,” he said. “He made us proud.”
Logsdon said that Collins had been set to come home on leave around...