Ryan Manelick

The sudden death of Kirk von Ackermann's colleague, Ryan Manelick, received little press coverage outside of local media in the Lancaster, Pennyslvania area. On December 14, 2003, world attention was focused on the previous day’s discovery of Saddam Hussein in a hole in the ground.

In the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over. A hopeful day has arrived. All Iraqis can now come together and reject violence and build a new Iraq. – President Bush

Note: Over one year since the capture of Saddam Hussein, the violence has not abated. According to the U.S. inspector-general, since April 2003, 232 contractor employees have died in Iraq. (as of February 1, 2005) Ryan Manelick was one of those 232 contractor employees.

The first and longest article lists Ultra Services/Irex Corp. as Ryan Manelick's employer. It is the only known reference to Irex Corp. to date.

Family mourns CV grad killed in Iraq ambush by Cindy Stauffer Lancaster New Era, December 18, 2003

Ryan Manelick wanted to do something for his country.

So when the 1991 Conestoga Valley High School graduate got a job offer from a company that obtained supplies for the military in Baghdad, he took it.

"He thought that was what he was supposed to do with his life," his mother, Christine Welk of New Holland, said today.

On Sunday, Manelick, 31, was killed when the car in which he was riding was riddled with gunfire in a drive-by shooting outside a military base in Baghdad.

More…

WLMI News Briefs, 11:00 AM, December 30, 2003

A Warren County native, 31-year old Ryan Manelick, has been killed in an ambush in downtown Baghdad. Manelick, who attended the Russell School before moving to the Lancaster area, was a civilian intelligence specialist.