NEW LONDON, Minnesota — It's been more than a decade since Army Spc. Ryane Clark was killed in action.
"There's not a day that goes by that we don't think of him. When we talk about our son Ryane, it's always in the past tense now, not present... we miss him every day." said Rick Clark, Ryane's father.
Tracy Clark, Ryane's mother, said ever since her son was a little boy he would talk about the military.
"We knew he would go in, we just didn't know what branch or when exactly he would go in. But yeah, he always wanted to. He had a sense of humor. He always wanted to do good... he loved being disciplined. I don't know what kid likes to be disciplined but he liked discipline," Tracy recalled.
Ryane graduated from New London-Spicer High School in 2007, graduating from Alexandria Technical College's law enforcement program in 2009. He enlisted in the National Guard in 2008 before joining the Army. He served in the Army Unit 57th Sapper Company, 27th Combat Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Combat Engineer Brigade (Combat), 18th Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"He reported to Fort Bragg October 1, 2009 and was sent to Afghanistan in December of 2009," Rick said. "10 months into his tour, he was killed in action October 4, 2010 in Shekhabad, Afghanistan."
Spc. Clark was killed after an insurgent attacked the truck he was in with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. He was 22 years old.
"Memorial Day is to remember why we are free. Why we have our freedom in the U.S. So we need to just take a moment on this day to remember why we have our freedom," Tracy said.
Tracy and Rick attended several Memorial Day events on Monday.
"We share Ryane's story with whoever we can... so we just try to keep his memory alive... there's a lot of military people out there that don't share their story and we just want them to share their stories also because it's one way of keeping their memories alive," Rick said.
After his death, Rick and Tracy fulfilled one of their son's dreams.
Growing up, Ryane lost his friend Cody Berg after he was hit by a car while biking near Glacial Lakes State Trail in 1999.
At 15, Ryane wanted to use his Eagle Scout project to build a parking lot near the area but he ran into red tape.
In 2015, his parents made it possible.
"So we've done a parking lot and memorial in both their honors and right now we have bios up of 103 soldiers with flags at the memorial site right now," Tracy said.
Rick added, "To honor them is to say their names and to remember them is to share their stories. Just share the stories with whoever you can because people want to hear them and if we quit sharing the stories, they're truly gone."
In 2020, a book was written about Spc. Clark called "A Penny for Ryane." You can order a copy, here.
