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April 26, 2007

Soldier from Georgia among paratroopers killed

CARNESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A 19-year-old soldier from northeast Georgia was among nine members of the 82nd Airborne Division to die when suicide bombers attacked an outpost in Iraq, his father and a school official said Wednesday.

Pfc. Ryen King was the second member of the 2005 class of Franklin County High School to be killed in Iraq in six months.

King was a two-sport athlete and member of the school’s Young Democrats.

“I sensed that he felt, probably, that the structure of the military would be good for him as he prepared for college,” principal Diane Toney said.

King’s father, Jerry King of Bowersville, said his son told him he felt a “need to serve.”

Two suicide bombers struck the building in Diyala province on Monday, causing it to collapse. Twenty others were wounded in the attack.

King had been in Iraq since August. He had five sisters, ages 2 to 20, and was a role model for them, his father said.

“He had a lot of sense of responsibility protecting his sisters,” King said. “He really cared a lot about them.”

In January, the soldier was home for a two-week leave.

“He spent most of his time with his girlfriend snow skiing,” King said.

His girlfriend, University of Georgia student Hanna Davidson of Royston, was notified of his death while studying in Italy and was expected to return on Wednesday, King said.

Baseball coach Derrick Davis said Ryen King played football and was a catcher during his freshman and junior years.

In November, Pfc. Daniel Allman II, 20, of Canon died when his Humvee was hit by an improvised explosive device.

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