Ryan Conklin wears a black KIA bracelet on his right wrist in remembrance of a friend who was a soldier in Ryan's company who was killed in Iraq. The friend was Cpl. Andrew J. Kemple, of Cambridge, Minnesota. Kemple, 23, was a gunner on a Humvee in Tikrit when he was killed by gun fire on February 12, 2006. Coincidentally, the day before Kemple was killed, Ryan was in a similar circumstance while being a gunner. A shot was fired at Ryan but missed him.
The after-effect of Kemple's death pumped Ryan with a rage infused adrenaline rush that pushed him to be able to do things, like kick in doors, that he otherwise would not have been able to do. He said it was like having a family member killed in front of him and he wanted to bring justice to anyone connected with the killer.
At home, Cpl. Kemple was memorialized in his home state. On February 23, 2006, the flag of the United States and of the state of Minnesota were lowered to half-mast at the Minnesota state capitol by order of the governor.
