What a story- God bless them all

December 8, 2006 -- The brother of a hero New York soldier killed in Iraq on the same day a blue-ribbon commission recommended bringing U.S. troops home said yesterday that pulling out would send the wrong message to the world.
"To me, it makes no sense . . . If you get out now, it would be telling the whole world you left and didn't succeed in anything," Ivan Ryndych, 20, said of the talk in Washington about what to do about the Iraq situation.
"If you do pull out, and give me a stupid reason, what kind of government are we?" he asked in front of his family's immaculately kept home on a cul-de-sac in Staten Island's Willowbrook section.
Last night, candles were lit there in honor of his brother, Sgt. Yevgeniy Ryndych, 24.
Yesterday, an engagement ring Ryndych had bought over the Internet for his fiancée arrived by FedEx. He was due home on leave next month.
Sgt. Ryndych was on patrol with his unit in Ramadi - an especially dangerous area for U.S. soldiers - when he was fatally injured by an improvised explosive device.
He was among 11 U.S. soldiers who gave their lives Wednesday, the same day the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended that the government commit to removing combat troops in early 2008, and boost efforts to train Iraqi forces.
On Staten Island, Ivan Ryndych said he was not sure a pullout would mean for troops risking their lives in Iraq. "If they do pull out, it will save soldiers," he said. "But then, if you take out soldiers, you have to admit you were wrong."
Sgt. Ryndych, who was born in Ukraine, was an avid reader as a youth, very interested in math and military-strategy games.
Ivan Ryndych said he was surprised by his brother's success with the Army's physical training.
"He wasn't a sports guy - he just read books since he was born. He wasn't a physical guy at all," he said. "But he always wanted to go into the Army . . . He just liked the whole Army concept."
Asked if his family was prouder of its Ukrainian or U.S. heritage, Ryndych said: "We live in the country that's better to live in."
A graduate of Lafayette HS in Brooklyn, Sgt. Ryndych joined the Army in 2000 and trained for the infantry. He qualified to serve in airborne missions and earned a Combat Infantryman's Badge and a Good Conduct Medal.
He was a skilled marksman, ranking No. 3 among the thousands of troops based at Fort Carson, Colo., his brother said. Only highly trained Army snipers shot better.
"There were so many accomplishments," Ivan said.
Ryndych served a yearlong tour of duty in Korea, and served a tour in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.
"He had a lot of medals. The first time in Iraq, he got two medals, one for saving somebody," his brother said.
The Army offered Sgt. Ryndych more training - but he turned it down to go back to Iraq. "All his friends and soldiers were there already," Ivan Ryndych said. " 'I don't want to leave them.' That's exactly what he said, word for word," his mother, Slava Ryndych, said in a soft, trembling voice.
Ivan Ryndych was considering a military career himself until his brother's death.
"Now that this happened, I definitely won't go in the Army," he said. "I can't put my parents through the same thing. It's not about me."