Risk Taker Studios

7, 2005, in Basra, Iraq. Born Nov. 4, 1972, in Hagerstown, he was the son of Gregory Brandt Young and Pamela Ann Morgan Young of Hagerstown. He was a 1990 graduate of Williamsport High School and attended Hagerstown Junior College. He graduated from National University in San Diego in May of 2004 with a degree in Business Management. He was employed by Triple Canopy as a private contractor. He was currently working for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, United States Department of State. He was assigned to the U.S. Regional Embassy Office in Basra, providing high risk diplomatic security. He previously served for 13 years in the U.S. Navy, the first five years with F-18 fighter squadrons, stationed at Cecil Field NAS in Jacksonville, Fla. He then became a U.S. Navy SEAL, and for five years, was stationed in Little Creek, Va., serving with SEAL Team 8, Charlie Platoon. He specialized as a scout sniper and jump master. He was then appointed to the position of U.S. Navy SEAL instructor, serving his final three years at the BUD/S training facility at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Calif. While serving with the Navy, he received the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal, three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement medals, two National Defense Service Medals, three good conduct medals, Navy "E" Ribbon, two NATO medals, Kosovo medal, expert rifleman medal, pistol expert medal, Sea Service deployment ribbon, three Southwest Asia Service medals, Navy unit commendation, two Armed Forces medals, Navy Arctic ribbon, Kuwait Liberation medal and Naval special warfare insignia. As a passionate runner, he was a member of Team in Training, which is a supporter of the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society. He was a member of Dixon-Troxell American Legion Post 211, Funkstown. In addition to his parents, Ryan is survived by his sister, Renee Young Weaver, her husband, David, and their twin daughters, Peyton and Morgan, of Middletown, Md.; one aunt and two uncles; and his girlfriend, Samantha Sinclair of San Diego. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Harry Brandt and Kathleen "Bobbie" Young of Hagerstown and maternal grandparents, David and Betty Morgan of Greensburg, Pa. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, 2005, at Minnich Funeral Home, 415 E. Wilson Blvd., Hagerstown. Burial will be at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Williamsport, Md. Family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Attention: Memorial for Ryan Brandt Young, 8575 Gibbs Drive, Suite 26.2, San Diego, CA 92123. Ryan and I first met while life guarding on the beaches of Virginia. We then later ran into each other on the beaches of San Diego where I learned once again we had chosen the same career path. We soon agreed that I would help him reach his goals of becoming a model / actor and he would do the same for me as a writer / producer. Both of us agreed that neither one of us would stop until our goals had been met. Even though Ryan is longer able to live out his dreams I am and because this I will never stop until I do. Ryan's last entry on his myspace page before he was killed in action -

Okay, Jeremy twisted my arm and I am going to update this properly. Well, I still might half-a*$ it a bit, but I guess what you need to know about me is that I always want to do more. I can't stop moving, the eternal transient. I have been around the world five times now and was payed to do it every time. (Go Navy) I have never been to the Orient or Down Under but they are on the list. I like to do anything that involves challenging my limits and everything usually has a pinch of adrenaline thrown into it. I now work for a private security company in a dusty little country where a significant number of people would like to put little holes in me. That's okay though, all in a days work(if you can call it that!) I am only going to do this for a little while longer (or until I catch a bullet in the face!) then it is off to LA to throw the proverbial hat in the ring! But I guess, what advice I should offer those who want to know who I am is, "Go on honey, take a chaaaance."