Sam Spade's San Francisco

Spc. Ryan J. Connolly, 24, of Vacaville, died June 24 in Khogyani, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck a suspected landmine. He was assigned to the 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany.

The welcome home banners were ordered and a celebration was scheduled, but instead the family of Sgt. Ryan James Connolly, 24, is left making funeral arraignments for the Vacaville soldier who was killed in Afghanistan just two weeks before he was to return home.

Connolly was killed Tuesday by a plastic land mine when a vehicle he was riding in with four other troops got too close to the virtually undetectable weapon.

"I'm numb right now, I don't know what to say," Robin Nelson, Connolly's mother said Thursday afternoon at her home in Vacaville. "It's horrid."

"He's the baby," said Robin with some hesitation.

"We hate to say, 'was,' " added Robert Nelson, Connolly's stepfather.

It was only in April that Connolly came back to Vacaville on leave with his wife Stefi and 1-year-old daughter Kayla.

"They were a good match," Robert said. "He had a great time with Kayla. He was going to be a good father."

It was during that furlough that Connolly's family joked about how he would handle Kayla dating when she got older.

"It's incomprehensible," said Robin, sporting a hat Connolly gave her. "To think that someone could plant a plastic bomb to take someone's life. Now the baby will grow up without a dad."

Connolly grew up in Santa Rosa, but had ties to Solano County and Vacaville. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and while attending Solano Community College, according to his mother, Connolly really thought about joining the military.

He felt strongly about protecting American soil," she said. "What could I do? I didn't want him to go, but he wanted to do it."

As a combat medic in the 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, U.S. Army, stationed in Bamberg, Germany, Connolly saw a lot of disturbing things while deployed to Afghanistan, his mother said.

"People don't understand exactly what goes on over there," she said. "Ryan liked to help and wished he could help more."

She explained that Connolly will be awarded for being one of the first soldiers on scene after a 10-year-old suicide bomber killed more than 20 Afghani citizens. Connolly and two others worked together and saved 17 people.

"He never doubted his experience," she said, recalling an e-mail from Connolly after the incident. "He was trained to do what he needed to do."

Robin Connolly said that the arraignments for a funeral are still being worked out and that she hopes to start an education fund for Kayla soon.

News report courtesy of the Vacaville, California newspaper, The Reporter.

Funeral:

Click here for funeral details, including a motorcycle procession by the Patriot Guard Riders.

The Governor:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in honor of Connolly, ordered that Capitol flags be flown at half-staff.

"Specialist Ryan Connolly was a true patriot who served our country bravely. His commitment to freedom, his fellow soldiers and the defense of the United States will never be forgotten," said Governor Schwarzenegger.

A Tribute to a Fallen Comrade:

"If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us"

As a veteran, a Californian and as a deeply grateful civilian I want to thank Ryan Connolly. I want to thank his wife and his daughter and I want to thank his parents. In fact, the entirety of the United Sates of America - every man, every woman and every child - owes a debt of gratitude and thanks to Ryan Connolly and to his family. They gave to us and to America the last, final measure until they had no more to give.