Army Pfc. Ryan M. McCauley
Death: Sep 05, 2004
of Lewisville Texas; assigned to the 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Division Fort Hood Texas; killed Sept. 5 when his patrol came under attack by small-arms fire in Baghdad. Soldier killed in Iraq remembered by friends family Associated Press DALLAS — A 20-year-old soldier killed in an ambush in Iraq had just finished a month-long leave at home after a one-year tour of duty in South Korea. Pvt. Ryan Michael McCauley died Sunday just 17 days after leaving family friends in Lewisville. Before shipping out he confided in his friends. “He wasn’t like not wanting to go — he was just scared” Donald Templeton20 of Lewisville told The Dallas Morning News in Wednesday editions. “He had a feeling deep down that something bad was going to happen. We both kind of did.” McCauley was on foot patrol Sunday when he was ambushed in the Sadr City area of Baghdad Army officials told his family Monday. “He was a big teddy bear. He had a lot of friends who really cared about him” his sister Tiffany McCauley23 said. “He didn’t want us to worry about him. He wanted to go to Iraq — he really did — he wanted to fight and fight for his country.” McCauley who sported a tattoo on his arm of an eagle bursting through an American flag joined the Army and graduated from boot camp at Fort Benning Ga. in June 2003 . He was adamant about going into the Army said his friend Austin Cude20 of Denton. “He told us that he knew what he was doing and liked what he was doing. He wasn’t doing anything he didn’t want to do” Cude said.