Army Spc. Luke S. Runyan

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Luke S. Runyan, 21, of Spring Grove, Pa.

Spc. Runyan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Feb. 17, 2008 in Diyala, Iraq, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his dismounted patrol using small arms fire. Also killed was Spc. Chad D. Groepper.

Soldier from south central Pa. killed in ambush in Iraq
The Associated Press

YORK, Pa. — A soldier from central Pennsylvania was one of two soldiers shot and killed in an ambush in Iraq.

Army Spc. Luke Runyan, 21, died Feb. 17 in Diyala province from wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his dismounted patrol using small-arms fire, according to the Department of Defense.

Runyan leaves behind a wife, Courtney, and their 1-year-old daughter, Brynn. The two met while he was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Runyan, an avid hunter who also enjoyed riding his motorcycle, enlisted in the Army while he was a senior at Spring Grove Area Senior High School. Late last year, he re-enlisted for another three years.

He deployed to Iraq last spring.

“He had no fear of combat and I guess that was part of his training,” said his father, Marc Runyan, of West Manchester Township. “He once told me you go out on a mission and if you get hit, you get hit. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s as simple as that. He did feel very strongly they were doing an excellent job freeing the Iraqi people from al-Qaida.”

Runyan was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Lewis. The other soldier killed was Spc. Chad D. Groepper, 21, of Kingsley, Iowa, who was also assigned to the unit.

Runyan’s father said he was told by Army officials that the attack was an ambush and that another soldier was also injured.

Army Spc. Luke S. Runyan was killed in action on 2/17/08.