US Troops Killed In Afghanistan And Africa

The Associated Press

Army Sgt. Ryan C. Adams

Ryan C. Adams celebrated life, whether he was enjoying the outdoors by hunting and fishing or volunteering with Angels on My Shoulder, a nonprofit cancer support group dear to his heart. He had an infectious sense of compassion, his family said.

Adams joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard shortly after graduating in 2001 from Rhinelander High School, in Rhinelander, Wis., where he was a quarterback on the football team and played baseball and golf. Staff at the school remembered him as a respectful, hard-working student who made time for others, and those qualities stuck in his military life.

"He was where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do," his parents, Peter and Jalane, said in a statement. "He did it with pride and honor."

Adams, 26, died Oct. 2 in Logar province of wounds from an attack involving rocket-propelled grenades. He had previously served in Iraq.

"He was very proud to serve his country," said his uncle, Patrick Adams. "He was incredibly proud to be a soldier, and he loved doing what he did."