SSG Ryan D. Hammond

26, USAF

October 2 marks the passing of SSG Ryan D. Hammond, USAF, 26, We honor and remember him, his mother Cathy Hammond and his father Dave Hammond all of Moundsville WV.

Ryan was born on March 29, 1989, in Glen Dale, W.Va. After graduating from John Marshall High School in 2007, he proudly joined the United States Air Force in September 2007 as an F-15 Avionics Technician at Tyndall AFB, Fla. and Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. After six years of service, Ryan cross-trained to a Loadmaster and arrived at Dyess AFB, Texas, in March 2014 as part of the 39th Airlift Squadron. He was serving on his first deployment as a Loadmaster with his crew on TORQE 62.

 SSG Hammond died Oct. 2 2015 at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, when the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in which he was riding crashed. He was assigned to the 39th Airlift Sq, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.

Ryan Hammond was a thrill seeker that took spontaneous trips with his buds, hiked the Grand Canyon…twice, and experienced the happiest day of his life when he married his wife, Holly. 

From a young age there was one love he always felt drawn to since a neighbor told him about it when he was just 12…The Air Force. “They talked a lot about the things you could do when you were in the Air Force,” Ryan’s father Dave said. “It was very exciting, some of the jobs and how they get to travel, and I think that’s where it stemmed from.”

So, once he graduated from John Marshal High School Ryan joined the Air Force in September of 2007 where he became a Staff Sergeant in about 5 years when it normally takes around 7 or 8. Once Cathy and Dave realized their son was planning to choose this path in the military though, their reactions were quite opposite. “Well, I felt proud. Proud and honored that he wanted to do that,” said Cathy. “I wasn’t a real big military person just because we’re in so many different conflicts,” Dave said about his son joining the Air Force. “I wanted him to have a job he was relatively safe at.”

Ryan spent eight years in the Air Force where he became a Loadmaster. He had never been deployed, but then 27 days into his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, tragedy struck.

“He told us when he went over that he’d be in areas that were going to be kind of shaky, possible enemy,” Dave said. “I was very worried about where he was going to be and I had a terrible feeling about it.” That terrible feeling became reality once Ryan’s family realized this was the last photo they would ever have of him, one of Ryan and his wife Holly before he was deployed. On Friday, October 2nd, 2015, Ryan was aboard a U.S. C-130J plane that crashed while taking off from Jalalabad International Airport killing 11.

SSG Hammond was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. He leaves behind a wife, Holly in Abilene, Texas, and their dog, Dug.

Let us always remember him and his family and… 

Say His Name.

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