CASPER, WY, USA U.S. Army SPC, COMPANY D, 1ST BATTALION, 501ST INFANTRY, FORT RICHARDSON, AK BALAD, IRAQ 01/15/2007
In 2004, Jason Vantrease changed his name to Army Corporal Ryan Corbett. He was from Casper, Wyoming. Corporal Jason Jarrard (Vantrease) Corbett died January 15, 2007, of injuries sustained when his military unit came in contact with enemy forces during combat operations in Karmah, Iraq.
Wyoming. In November 2004, Corporal Corbett arrived in Alaska, where he was assigned to the 1-501 Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Richardson.
As a youngster, he attended Fairdale Elementary, Centennial Junior High and graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 2001. He competed on the high school track team. While in school, Jason was active in track, football and basketball. He was baptized at First Christian Church in 1995 and was active in worship and volunteered for summer Vacation Bible School. After high school, he attended Casper College, where he studied biology, before joining the U.S. Army in May 2004. He attended boot camp in Fort Benning, Ga., where he also graduated from airborne training.
He was a hard worker and a very likable student. He studied Latin and enjoyed science. It was during senior year in high school that he began to be interested in the military. Ryan and some high school classmates visited Italy and Greece. He began to research and read about the Romans and the Greeks. While he was in Athens, Greece, he had a friend time him to see what it was like to run around the Olympic Stadium track. Ryan was a skier and a snowboarder. He loved sports and the outdoors. He graduated from high school in 2001 and studied biology at Casper College until December 2003. He was an avid fisherman. He enjoyed fishing for salmon, biking, hunting and hiking while he lived in Anchorage, Alaska where he was stationed.
While stationed in Alaska, Jason met the love of his life, Amanda Dodson. They enjoyed being in the great outdoors, especially fishing and hunting together. Jason and Amanda attended church together at St. John United Methodist Church, where they planned to be married when he returned from Iraq. Ryan was proud to serve his country and was a strong person and a hard worker. It didn’t matter what the task was, if it needed to be done and he had to do it, he did whatever he had to do to make it happen. He was admired and respected by his commanding officers and the soldiers in his company, some of whom remarked that he always had a smile on his face.
The Casper College Foundation at 125 College Dr., Casper, WY 82601, has established the Jason Corbett Memorial Scholarship in his honor.
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