"John Ryan Dennison was a shining light..."

When a young man's story opens by celebrating his life in the past tense,  don't expect a happy ending.   Unfortunately, not all stories worth telling have happy endings.  That doesn't make them any less important.  

Look past Ryan's megawatt smile and you may notice a glint of metal on his chest.   It is subtle and easily missed.  It's a decoration that doesn't call attention to itself, yet speaks volumes.  

John Ryan Dennison was more than merely a graduate of West Point, as if that distinction could ever be characterized as "merely" an achievement...