Staff Sergeant Ryan Oyster dutifully gave the military over six years of his life then willfully handed it over at the age of 27. Oyster was a trained Amtrak Mechanic in the U.S. Marines. In Iraq, he transported courageous young men from sea to land and the wounded to safety in Kuwait, Baghdad, Fallujah and Kirkuk.

Ryan was an adventurous youngster who had an eye for uniforms and had his sights on the military. He was an outdoorsman, Eagle Scout, played baseball, soccer, football, wrestled and ran cross country. Then in 1998, at eighteen, the Virginia native set out on a journey that would claim his body–and eventually his life.

Ryan Oyster was the epitome of perfect health, a go-getter and full of life–he wanted it all and that’s how he lived.