Army Spc Long was assigned to A Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia. Long was killed in a suicide car-bomb attack while coming to the aid of a pregnant woman standing next to the car. Ryan loved being in the Army, but he also was a competitive soccer player with a passion for snowboarding, music, motorcycles and water sports. "The most remarkable thing about Ryan was that he lived life to the fullest," his mother, Donna Long, said. "Everything that he did, he gave 110 percent. He was very good, very generous, very kind. We were proud of him." Joining the military was a given for Long, a fourth-generation soldier who had looked forward to serving since he was child. Long was active in Junior ROTC during high school and joined the Army after his 1999 graduation. Ryan had intended to use the GI Bill to attend college in the fall. After two deployments to Afghanistan, he was sent to Iraq. His mother last heard from him on March 9 in a telephone message he left while preparing to ship out. "He just left a message on the answering machine … that he wouldn't be able to get in touch with us for a while … and that he loves us," she said.
Army Spc Long was assigned to A Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia. Long was killed in a suicide car-bomb attack while coming to the aid of a pregnant woman standing next to the car. Ryan loved being in the Army, but he also was a competitive soccer player with a passion for snowboarding, music, motorcycles and water sports. "The most remarkable thing about Ryan was that he lived life to the fullest," his mother, Donna Long, said. "Everything that he did, he gave 110 percent. He was very good, very generous, very kind. We were proud of him." Joining the military was a given for Long, a fourth-generation soldier who had looked forward to serving since he was child. Long was active in Junior ROTC during high school and joined the Army after his 1999 graduation. Ryan had intended to use the GI Bill to attend college in the fall. After two deployments to Afghanistan, he was sent to Iraq. His mother last heard from him on March 9 in a telephone message he left while preparing to ship out. "He just left a message on the answering machine … that he wouldn't be able to get in touch with us for a while … and that he loves us," she said.
