thedrifter
09-10-07, 02:53 PM
Once you met him, you never forgot’
Sep 10, 2007 @ 12:01 AM
By Zack Creglow
RRSTAR.COM
BELVIDERE -
Almost three years have passed since Lance Cpl. Branden Ramey was killed in an explosion outside Fallujah, but his family and friends have no doubt whether the community remembers him.
Blazing a trail all across the Rock River Valley, about 100 people joined a memorial motorcycle and car ride to raise money for a scholarship in Ramey’s name at Belvidere High School, where he graduated in 2001.
Ramey was killed Nov. 8, 2004, at age 22. A week before his death, his high school sweetheart Stacey Lee accepted Ramey’s marriage proposal during a phone call he made from Iraq.
For Lee and Ramey’s surviving family, seeing so many people show up for the memorial ride reminded them how special he was.
“The fact that this many people came out still, that is a very comforting thought,” Lee said.
The ride started and ended in Belvidere, where Ramey grew up. He played in multiple sports, and his talents eventually landed him a spot with the semiprofessional football squad, the Roscoe Rush.
His younger brother, Bryce Trevino, now wears Ramey’s No. 17 jersey for the Belvidere High School football team.
After high school, Ramey went to school at Rock Valley College, with hopes of becoming a history teacher, and worked as a recruiter for the Marines.
His grandmother, Jan Gritzmacher, said Ramey was exempt from serving a tour of duty. But when other members of his company — the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines Gulf Company, 4th Division, based in Madison, Wis. — shipped out to Iraq, Ramey joined them.
He was in Iraq for seven weeks before he was killed.
“He didn’t have to go to Iraq,” Gritzmacher said. “But he said, ‘If my company goes, I’m going.’”
Fred Glee, the father of one of Ramey’s closest friends, started the memorial ride.
With Ramey so involved in athletics, Glee thought it would be appropriate that the ride raise money for an athletic scholarship in Ramey’s name at the high school.
“He was a very good athlete,” Glee said.
Memorial rides in 2005 and 2006 raised about $1,200 each, and Glee said he thought that amount might be topped this year.
The true reward, family members said, was witnessing the outpouring of support Sunday.
“It’s just awesome,” Gritzmacher said.
And she knows why, three years later, people continue to remember her grandson.
“Branden was one-of-a-kind,” she said. “Once you met him, you never forgot him.”
Staff writer Zack Creglow may be reached at 815-987-1376 or zcreglow@rrstar.com.
Ellie
Sep 10, 2007 @ 12:01 AM
By Zack Creglow
RRSTAR.COM
BELVIDERE -
Almost three years have passed since Lance Cpl. Branden Ramey was killed in an explosion outside Fallujah, but his family and friends have no doubt whether the community remembers him.
Blazing a trail all across the Rock River Valley, about 100 people joined a memorial motorcycle and car ride to raise money for a scholarship in Ramey’s name at Belvidere High School, where he graduated in 2001.
Ramey was killed Nov. 8, 2004, at age 22. A week before his death, his high school sweetheart Stacey Lee accepted Ramey’s marriage proposal during a phone call he made from Iraq.
For Lee and Ramey’s surviving family, seeing so many people show up for the memorial ride reminded them how special he was.
“The fact that this many people came out still, that is a very comforting thought,” Lee said.
The ride started and ended in Belvidere, where Ramey grew up. He played in multiple sports, and his talents eventually landed him a spot with the semiprofessional football squad, the Roscoe Rush.
His younger brother, Bryce Trevino, now wears Ramey’s No. 17 jersey for the Belvidere High School football team.
After high school, Ramey went to school at Rock Valley College, with hopes of becoming a history teacher, and worked as a recruiter for the Marines.
His grandmother, Jan Gritzmacher, said Ramey was exempt from serving a tour of duty. But when other members of his company — the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines Gulf Company, 4th Division, based in Madison, Wis. — shipped out to Iraq, Ramey joined them.
He was in Iraq for seven weeks before he was killed.
“He didn’t have to go to Iraq,” Gritzmacher said. “But he said, ‘If my company goes, I’m going.’”
Fred Glee, the father of one of Ramey’s closest friends, started the memorial ride.
With Ramey so involved in athletics, Glee thought it would be appropriate that the ride raise money for an athletic scholarship in Ramey’s name at the high school.
“He was a very good athlete,” Glee said.
Memorial rides in 2005 and 2006 raised about $1,200 each, and Glee said he thought that amount might be topped this year.
The true reward, family members said, was witnessing the outpouring of support Sunday.
“It’s just awesome,” Gritzmacher said.
And she knows why, three years later, people continue to remember her grandson.
“Branden was one-of-a-kind,” she said. “Once you met him, you never forgot him.”
Staff writer Zack Creglow may be reached at 815-987-1376 or zcreglow@rrstar.com.
Ellie