Cpl. Richard "Ricky" J. Nelson, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin, was a graduate of Christian Life School in Kenosha, where he played percussion in the school band. He signed up for the Marine Reserves as a high school senior and was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Milwaukee. His father, Leonard, taught him remodeling work, and he worked as a carpenter for Cornerstone Construction in Kenosha. He had already served a previous tour in Iraq before volunteering for Fox Company's second deployment. On April 14, 2008, he was killed by a roadside bomb in Anbar province, alongside Lance Cpl. Dean D. Opicka. He was the second youngest of seven children, with five brothers and a sister.
""He just loved kids," his mother Susan said. With 14 nieces and nephews, he planned to go to college and become an elementary school teacher when he returned home. He and his wife Kristen planned to start their own family. He idolized Packers quarterback Brett Favre — calling home the day Favre retired to ask, "Mom, tell me the news isn't true." Two days before his death, he spoke his faith clearly to his mother on the phone, and hundreds gathered to remember him."
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old."
— Laurence Binyon