Sartor a friend and brother went on to become a real American hero

Editor’s note: The following is the speech Clint Skinner delivered Friday, Sept. 6, at the retirement ceremony of the late Sgt. Maj. James Gregory Ryan Sartor’s No. 84 Teague Lions jersey. Skinner and Sartor were members of the Teague High School Class of 1997.

For those of you that don’t know me my name is Clint Skinner, Teague High School class of 1997. I received a call early one morning in July that I never expected to get. On the other end of the line I heard, “Ryan was killed yesterday in Afghanistan.” All I could think was “no way.”

Even now I still have a hard time believing it. As the news crews rolled into small town Teague I was asked several times if I would speak about Ryan. I just couldn’t gather myself to do it.

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