Ryan, Donald Gregory, Capt

Donald G. Ryan was born on July 4, 1919, in Canby, Minnesota. Two years later, he and his parents, Laura and Jerry Ryan, moved to Highmore, South Dakota, where his sister, Kathryn, was born. Don enjoyed school and was active in football, basketball, and track.  During Donald�??s senior year, he was student body president.  He attended a boy�??s camp every summer and when he was seventeen, became a counselor there.  After high school, Don attended the University of Minnesota. He had many friends and led a happy life during those years. After finishing college in June of 1941, Donald enlisted as an aviation cadet at the Minneapolis Naval Reserve Aviation Base. On October of 1941, he was sent to the United States Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was chosen for the Marine Corps Reserve.  He became a 2nd Lieutenant and received his wings on July 2, 1942.  Don trained in aircraft carrier landing at the Great Lakes Naval Air Station before being sent to the Marine Air Base in San Diego, California, in August of 1942.  On February 1, 1943, he was promoted to captain.  Donald�??s first letter aboard ship, destination unknown, was dated February 10, 1943.Donald�??s squadron was sent on training missions from Hawaii and Midway. Their theater of operation was the Asiatic-Pacific with major bombings on Bougainville. On December 16, 1943, his dive bomber, with him and his radioman-tail gunner aboard, was reported missing in action.