Location: 1807
Date: 12/3/2011
Rank: Sergeant
Branch: U.S. Army
Operation: Operation Enduring Freedom
Sgt. Ryan D. Sharp died Saturday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered Nov. 21 in Kandahar province. He was 28 years old. Ryan and his platoon sergeant were on an evening reconnaissance mission when his partner slipped on a landmine. He was killed instantly. Ryan gathered five other soldiers to help pull the soldier’s body from the wreckage, and as they made their way to the chopper, Ryan stepped on a landmine. He took the brunt of it and shielded his fellow soldiers from sustaining major injuries. He was scheduled to finish his third and final tour for the Army next year.
His family remembers him as a very loving, kind, tender-hearted man. He was looking for
additional guidance as a youth, and his family said the Army was the best thing. He left a boy and came back a man they commented.
His parents were able to be with him in Germany when he died. Besides his parents, he left behind his two young daughters, 6-year-old Mia and 8-year-old Sarah, as well as two brothers and two sisters.
Ryan was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, out of Fort Riley. He is loved and missed by all who knew him, and will never be forgotten.