John Ryan Dennison remembered

WASHINGTON - Ryan Dennison’s friends envied his intensity. Adults said he was mature. It was as though he had always been a soldier - disciplined, prepared, sharp. No one was surprised when he went to war.

1st Lt. John Ryan Dennison, 24, of Ijamsville, who was killed in Iraq Wednesday by small arms fire, died doing his job, according to his friends.

“He didn’t want to be martyred,” said Stew Alcorn, his longtime friend and football and wrestling teammate in high school.

Dennison, a 2000 graduate of Urbana High School, died east of Baghdad after suffering gunshot wounds, his family told The Associated Press. The Department of Defense has not yet publicized his death.

As a Cub Scout, Alcorn recalled, Dennison brought in a box his father, Jack Dennison, who also served in the Army, had brought home from his stint in Desert Storm.

“He was so proud. He wouldn’t stop talking about how he was going to be a soldier someday,” Alcorn said.

Dennison, who would become a platoon leader in a cavalry regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, certainly acted like one.

Before he left for West Point, John Ryan Dennison’s friends “threw what is to my knowledge the biggest party Urbana has ever seen,” said Alcorn.

The next time Alcorn saw Dennison, he noticed a change.

“He grew up a lot, I guess you could say. He was always a soldier. He had wanted to be a soldier his whole life, but he was a man,” Alcorn said. “I think Haley had a lot to do with that.”

Dennison’s wife, 1st Lt. Haley Dennison, also 24, who he met at U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is serving in Afghanistan.

The two were engaged at a restaurant in Baltimore while in their junior year at West Point and married in July 2004, Alcorn said.

Dave Carruthers, who coached Dennison and his teammates to two state football championships in 1998 and 1999, said Dennison’s performance on the field was rigorously consistent. He trained harder than anyone, Carruthers said.

“He was very, very intense,” Carruthers said.

Dennison, who played offensive guard and linebacker, wasn’t the most imposing at around 6’1“, 170 pounds, but what he lacked in size, he made up for in smarts, grit, and strength, Carruthers said.

”He was someone we could always rely on,“ Carruthers said. ”He always prepared hard. He was very smart. He knew his assignments and executed very well. Whatever he did, he gave it his all.“

Urbana High School Principal George Seaton II and his colleagues heard of Dennison’s death in Friday’s Frederick News Post.

”It hit us hard,“ Seaton said.

He said Dennison very a popular student and was always ”very respectful and engaging.“ Dennison’s ferocity on the field and the mat never spilled over into the school’s hallways, Seaton said.

In fact, in his four years at Urbana, Dennison was never summoned to Seaton’s office for discipline, he said.

”If I was going to see Ryan, it was going to have to be in an honors class or during wrestling or football practice,“ Seaton said. ‘’He was a very mature student.“

He took courses for college credit as a junior in high school, and he loved history, Seaton said.

”Ryan had direction,“ he said.

Dennison’s direction tracked north, to West Point, where he indulged his passion for military history - particularly the Civil War - and majored in international relations.

Haley Dennison shipped out to Afghanistan last March. Dennison shipped out, first to Kuwait and then to Iraq, a couple months later.

Dennison is survived by his wife, parents, Jack and Shannon Dennison, a brother, Christopher Dennison, and a sister, Colleen Dennison.

Plans for services will not be made until Haley Dennison arrives in the United States, Alcorn said.

From the Capital

Young soldier won't be forgotten

IJAMSVILLE -- The last time Jonathan Sanderson heard from his friend of 17 years, U.S. Army First Lt. Ryan Dennison, it was via e-mail on Oct. 17.
Mr. Sanderson, 24, of Monrovia, had written to Lt. Dennison asking about his experiences in Iraq and how he was doing.

Lt. Dennison, 24, of Ijamsville, sent Mr. Sanderson a response asking him to tell him more about his software job at Management Information Technology Corp. in Monrovia. Lt. Dennison also asked about Mr. Sanderson's interest in studying computer software security features.

"He e-mailed me back asking me questions about my life," Mr. Sanderson said Friday. "That is so typical of him."

Lt. Dennison's concern for others was one of the many reasons people were drawn to him, and it's just one of the many reasons why so many are mourning his death.

The 2000 Urbana High School graduate was killed in Iraq by small arms fire Wednesday, said his parents, Jack and Shannon Dennison. The Army declined to give them more details.

The U.S. Department of Defense had yet to confirm Lt. Dennison's death Friday night, according to its Web site.

This was Lt. Dennison's first deployment to Iraq, his parents said. He was sent to Kuwait in August and went to Iraq in early September.

Lt. Dennison was a member of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2004.

"He was definitely someone who couldn't sit around in a desk job," Mr. Sanderson said. "He had to be doing something exciting and risk-taking ... He died doing what he loved."

Lt. Dennison was close to several of his teachers at Urbana High School.

Steve Wilson, a physics and chemistry teacher, taught Lt. Dennison for a year.

"He was one of the happiest kids I ever had," he said. "He was so positive."

Urbana High School Principal George Seaton II said several teachers on Friday were taking the news of Lt. Dennison's death hard.

"He was a great kid," he said.

While many will remember him at the school for his athletic ability -- he was a member of the football and wrestling teams -- Mr. Seaton said he would remember Lt. Dennison for his love of a certain subject.

"He was quite a student of history," he said.

Norman Crosby, a social studies teacher, remembered Lt. Dennison loved to learn about the past -- especially when it came to military history. Lt. Dennison was named outstanding social studies student of the year in 2000.

Mr. Crosby, who taught him for two years, wrote Lt. Dennison's letter of recommendation in his application to West Point.

"He was an excellent student," Mr. Crosby said. "He had a great sense of humor. He was a natural classroom leader."

Mr. Seaton said he planned to speak to Lt. Dennison's family before the school holds an event to honor his memory.

Former Urbana head football coach Dave Carruthers remembered Lt. Dennison as a driven young man.

"He was a very hard worker," he said. "There is a reason he went to West Point. You don't just get in there. He was very goal-oriented."

Rick Conner, former Urbana assistant football coach and current head coach for Linganore High School, said Lt. Dennison epitomized everything good. As a teacher, Mr. Conner said he would sometimes get tired, but coaching or teaching a kid like Ryan Dennison made it all worthwhile.

Mr. Conner taught him for three years in gym class at Windsor Knolls Middle School and coached him at Urbana. Lt. Dennison will be honored today with a moment of silence during the Urbana v. Linganore football game, he said.

"I haven't been this sad in a while," Mr. Conner said. "In 24 years, Ryan got a lot out of it. The family is going to get through this."

Chris Kline, 24, was Lt. Dennison's best man at his July 17, 2004 wedding to his college sweetheart, First Lt. Haley Dennison. Lt. Dennison is in the U.S. Army and is now stationed in Afghanistan.

Mr. Kline is in graduate school in Cincinnati and boarded a flight to Maryland on Friday to return to Ijamsville after he heard about Lt. Dennison.

When thinking back on the years he knew him, Mr. Kline said he admired Lt. Dennison not only for his intelligence and physical abilities, but for his enthusiasm to try new things.

"He was a good friend," Mr. Kline said. "He won't be forgotten."

From the News Post

Related Link:
John Ryan Dennison killed in combat