Ode To Emma's Uncle Ryan

Our family is no stranger to the military. We consider it an honor to have four men in our family who have served or are serving in our nation's great Armed Forces.  Something that is new to us is to be around during one of their deployments.  Major Ryan Welch has only been a part of our family for a short time but he has integrated seamlessly.

On Friday, June 10th, when most of us are still sleeping soundly in our beds…

Ryan will be deploying to Afghanistan with the rest of Task Force 3-227 “Spearhead”. 

So before he deploys, just thought we’d tell you a little bit more about one of the persons going over to help protect you and I as we go about our daily routines. (We should do this for every soldier) 

Ryan is a son, brother, husband, uncle, cousin, friend and, most recently, has found out he will be a father.  Ryan is a pilot of the AH-64D Apache Helicopter.  It’s a combat helicopter that packs quite a punch! (It’s also one of the coolest in the family of attack helicopters)  It can only carry two people (pilot and gunner) and the rest of the available space is packed with munitions. 

This will be Ryan's 6th deployment in 9 years.  Did you hear that?  Roughly in the last 9 years, Ryan has been overseas for 6 of them.  By God's amazing grace and protection, Ryan met my sister and after a year of dating, they were married.  They are expecting a son in October.  Ryan will be able to return home for two weeks to see his firstborn baby boy and then will selflessly return to the war in Afghanistan until early next summer.

It is an amazing thing what the service men and women do for our country.  What their families endure during their absence.  They deserve so much gratitude and respect from those that reap the freedoms they protect. I’ve never met a soldier that boasts themselves above others or that toots their own horn.  But they're heroes. Plain and simple.

Thank you Ryan for all you take care of at home and even more for what you do overseas.  We’ll be praying for you and all those with you until your return.  We can’t wait to ‘Greet The Troops’ back at DFW when you’re among them!

Bruceville invites all of you reading this to keep Ryan and Meredith in your thoughts in prayers over the next year.  We’ll be sure to keep you updated.

For another hardcore/heroic story about Ryan go here:  http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=24921