Foraker, Ryan Dane

Ryan Dane Foraker was a 31-year-old Staff Sergeant from Logan, Ohio, serving with the 342nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Columbus, Ohio. His unit was mobilized following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and he was deployed in support of the global counter-terrorism campaign.

Foraker died on September 24, 2002, at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, he was killed in action when a fellow soldier, a 22-year-old private, reportedly shot him and another soldier before turning a weapon on himself. The incident occurred at a guard tower on the base.

Foraker's death took place during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign launched in October 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks. The operation initially focused on Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power. The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay was established in January 2002 to hold individuals captured in this and related counter-terrorism operations.

The shooting was investigated as a murder-suicide. The Army identified the other soldier killed as Specialist James K. Frolking, 26, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The private who carried out the shooting died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident marked a rare instance of fatal violence among U.S. personnel at the detention camp.

Staff Sergeant Foraker was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. He is memorialized on the Ohio Veterans Memorial Park in Clinton, Ohio, and his name is inscribed on the Global War on Terrorism Memorial at the Ohio Statehouse.

Staff Sergeant Ryan Foraker was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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