Navy Hospitalman Ryley Gallinger-Long

Remember Our Heroes

Navy Hospitalman Ryley Gallinger-Long, 19, of Cornelius, Ore.

Navy Hospitalman Gallinger-Long was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Aug. 11, 2011 in Marjah district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting a dismounted patrol.

Ryley Gallinger-Long, 19, of Cornelius, Oregon passed away on August 11, 2011 in Marja in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan while serving with the 1/6 Marine Division as a hospital corpsman in the US Navy. Ryley was conducting a dismounted patrol in the Helmand province and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before being deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom last month. He was less than a month into his first overseas deployment when he was killed in action. Ryley will be awarded the Purple Heart.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 10:00 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Forest Grove Stake Center, 3661 Brooke Street in Forest Grove, Oregon, with Bishop Greg Ballard, of the Forest Grove First Ward, presiding. Dedication of the Grave with Full Military Honors will follow at Ryley's final resting place at Willamette National Cemetery, 11800 S.E. Mt. Scott Blvd. in Portland, Oregon in which family and friends are invited to attend.

Ryley Gallinger-Long was born on Independence Day in 1992, the son of Jeff Gallinger and Susan Blanchard. He was raised in the Cornelius community and received his education at Forest Grove High School, having been a graduate of the Class of 2010. While in high school, Riley served as a cadet at the Forest Grove Fire Department and hoped the military would prepare him for a future as a fire chief or emergency medical technician.

He was united in marriage to Hope, his high school sweetheart on March 12, 2011. They lived in Jacksonville, North Carolina before Ryley was deployed.

Ryley enjoyed the outdoors especially camping, fishing at Hagg Lake, hiking saddle mountain, white-water rafting with his brothers and spending time with his family and friends. Ryley loved his jeep, cared deeply for his friends and even earned the title of Doc Gallinger from those he served with in the Navy. He was loved and respected by all who knew him and was known by his signature half smile and wonderful huge hugs. He is described as being a selfless person who loved animals and had a sincere desire to serve others. His family supported his life long goal to serve his country and to be in the service. He had a genuine willingness to help any and every one he could. Ryley is considered by many to be a hero but his family knows that he would say he was just doing his job.

Survivors include his wife, Hope Gallinger-Long, of Jacksonville, North Carolina; his mother, Susan Blanchard, of Cornelius, Oregon; his father, Jeff Gallinger, of Seaside, Oregon; and his identical twin brother, Wyatt Gallinger-Long, currently serving in the United States Navy, training at the Naval Station in Great Lakes, Illinois; his brother, Zack Gallinger-Long, of Hillsboro, Oregon and extended family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations the Wounded Warrior Project (which helps severely injured service members during their transition to civilian life), 1120 G. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, in his memory. (www.woundedwarriorproject.org)

Navy Hospitalman Ryley Gallinger-Long was killed in action on 8/11/11.