BOCA RATON, FL, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, I CO, 3D BN, 6TH MAR, RCT-2, 2D MAR DIV, CAMP LEJEUNE, NC HUSAYBAH, IRAQ 11/06/2005
Lance Corporal Sorensen wanted to be an officer but wanted to do some tours as an enlisted infantryman first. He felt he couldn’t lead people in that environment unless he had been in that environment. Though he always wanted to be a Marine, his joining the corps surprised his family.
He was known as a “motorhead” who constantly tinkered on a red 1992 Camaro. Before joining the Marines, he studied at the Wyoming Technical Institute in Laramie, where he learned to build race cars and was later certified as a mechanic.
When he returned to Boca Raton, Sorensen worked at Firestone. He learned early on he was good with his hands. Building race cars was something he could do for himself, by himself that had a tangible result. In his spare time, Ryan surfed and built his own surfboard. He was known as a tough guy at home, someone who could not be beaten.
When he was 2 or 3 years old, Ryan grabbed two barn kittens by their tails from a neighbor’s farm in Wisconsin and showed them to his parents as the kittens kept scratching his arms and face. Ryan was just thrilled that he was able to catch them.
He insisted his family decorate for Christmas even though he wouldn’t be home. He graduated from Boca Raton High School in 1998.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by his older sister, Marie Keyte, of Hernando. He is the 10th Iraq casualty from Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.