Memorial honors Wyoming soldier killed in Afghanistan, flags flown at half staff Saturday
JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI) - Governor Mark Gordon ordered both the United States and Wyoming State Flags be flown at half staff statewide on Saturday, October 23, 2021 in honor of the service of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum.
McCollum, a Teton County resident, was killed in the terrorist attack on August 26, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Hundreds attended a public memorial service for McCollum on Saturday at the Gill family's Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch, accessed off of South Park Loop Road in Jackson.
Family, friends and public officials all spoke at the ceremony, including Gordon and United States Senator John Barrasso.
It was a beautiful ceremony that showed just how much of an impact Rylee made on the world.
"He gave the ultimate sacrifice," said Rylee's father Jim McCollum. "Not for himself, not for someone close to him, but for people he didn't even know. That might possibly be the most selfless and greatest thing a man can ever do."
