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It is with an extremely heavy heart I share the story of my brother, Ryan Baer.
Ryan joined the United States Army August 25th, 2003. He went to basic and AIT at Ft. Sill, OK. His first tour was Iraq from 09/2004 - 09/2005 as a 13 Bravo. In 2006 he changed his MOS to become a Recruiter where he was stationed in Winchester, VA. He was there until 2009. In July of 2009 he went back to Sill and was awarded the MOS of Air Defense 14E. His second tour was in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 03/2010 - 05/2011. Afterwards, he returned to Sill and become the Senior Instructor at the Air Defense Artillery School. He won many awards but I'm just listing a couple that I knew he was proud of.
- Sgt Audie Murphy Award 02/02/2011.
- Ft. Sill Instructor of the Year 12/2012.
- Master Fitness Instructor 2013.
His final tour was to Korea. I can't find the exact dates, but it was 2016 till early 2018 as a 14E. He came back to Ft. Sill OK once more. He was honorably discharged April 22nd, 2019, after 16 years of service. He loved it out there as we are from the east coast. Not only was Ryan my brother, but he was also my best friend. We have been extremely close since childhood. The words don't do our relationship justice. Over the last couple days, I have learned so much more about his military life. I am in AWWW of each and every one that served with him and shared your stories. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts as reading these posts have made these unbearable days a little brighter. It is an absolute honor to be his sister.
I am going to share the truth for one reason and one reason alone. If Ryan's story can help save one solider, he did not die in vain. I realize now WHY leaving the military broke him and it did. He planned to do at least his 20 years if not more. He loved the Army and the people. April 22nd, 2019, is the day his spirit died. He has been drinking daily since then. He became very unhealthy which added to the internal struggles. Finally in October of 2021 we got him moved back home with us. We all lived within a 10-mile radius of each other for the first time in over 25 years. He was smiling again. He was going with us places again. We had an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were going to join the local gym and he was going to stop the drinking this time. I believe that in my heart and soul. However, the first week of January he got a cold. It got worse over the days, and he finally let us take him to the hospital Tuesday Jan. 25th. Dad stayed with him till 3:30 am. I went back at 9 the next morning and in that time, he had gotten much worse where they intubated him. His lungs were full of fluid and if we had gotten him back from that, he was in need of a liver transplant immediately. His body just couldn't fight any longer. He passed with his father by his side. I know in my heart he didn't mean for this to happen. He wouldn't have put his family and friends through this. He just didn't realize how sick he was.
Finally, I want to explain a little about why we are setting this page up. We have learned that because Ryan was discharged, the Army will not cover anything UNLESS we were to bury him in a National Cemetery. Ryan did not want to be buried so we are honoring his wishes. He did receive 60% disability through the VA. I've called several people and still waiting for calls back, however unless it was service related, they will not cover the majority of the costs. They will reimburse us for several of the expenses but not much. If this information changes, I will immediately update you. My father and I spent all of our savings to move him back east in October. I did not want to do this as no one likes asking for help. These funds will be to pay for the funeral expenses and a Celebration of Life after the service.
As of this posting, we have a phone meeting with the Funeral Director tomorrow (Sat) at 10:00 am. We anticipate the service will be 7 to 10 days out. As soon as I have the date, I will update this page along with all the Facebook pages. Words can't describe how grateful we are to each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
Ryan's family.
I am going to share the truth for one reason and one reason alone. If Ryan's story can help save one solider, he did not die in vain. I realize now WHY leaving the military broke him and it did. He planned to do at least his 20 years if not more. He loved the Army and the people. April 22nd, 2019, is the day his spirit died. He has been drinking daily since then. He became very unhealthy which added to the internal struggles. Finally in October of 2021 we got him moved back home with us. We all lived within a 10-mile radius of each other for the first time in over 25 years. He was smiling again. He was going with us places again. We had an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were going to join the local gym and he was going to stop the drinking this time. I believe that in my heart and soul. However, the first week of January he got a cold. It got worse over the days, and he finally let us take him to the hospital Tuesday Jan. 25th. Dad stayed with him till 3:30 am. I went back at 9 the next morning and in that time, he had gotten much worse where they intubated him. His lungs were full of fluid and if we had gotten him back from that, he was in need of a liver transplant immediately. His body just couldn't fight any longer. He passed with his father by his side. I know in my heart he didn't mean for this to happen. He wouldn't have put his family and friends through this. He just didn't realize how sick he was.
Finally, I want to explain a little about why we are setting this page up. We have learned that because Ryan was discharged, the Army will not cover anything UNLESS we were to bury him in a National Cemetery. Ryan did not want to be buried so we are honoring his wishes. He did receive 60% disability through the VA. I've called several people and still waiting for calls back, however unless it was service related, they will not cover the majority of the costs. They will reimburse us for several of the expenses but not much. If this information changes, I will immediately update you. My father and I spent all of our savings to move him back east in October. I did not want to do this as no one likes asking for help. These funds will be to pay for the funeral expenses and a Celebration of Life after the service.
As of this posting, we have a phone meeting with the Funeral Director tomorrow (Sat) at 10:00 am. We anticipate the service will be 7 to 10 days out. As soon as I have the date, I will update this page along with all the Facebook pages. Words can't describe how grateful we are to each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
Ryan's family.