Balmer remembered for his beaming smile

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — One photograph shows Ryan Balmer with his youngest son, Anthony, riding on his shoulders.

Other pictures of Balmer at a memorial service for him Friday inside Hill's Hangar 37 depicted his oldest son, Joshua, with his arm around him, and the father holding his adopted infant daughter, Gabby. About 400 people attended the service, where a picture blown up on a big video screen showed Balmer kissing Danielle Balmer, his wife of 10 years.

In a photo dated January 23, 2007, he's shown holding his gun while in Iraq as a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Back then, he was near the beginning of a 180-day deployment.

The balance that friends said Balmer, 33, tried so hard to keep between an Air Force career that began in 1993 and his family was about to tip in favor of his wife and kids living back in Roy, where he was due to arrive next week.

But on June 5, Balmer and another special agent were killed in Kirkuk, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device went off near their vehicle.

Inside Hangar 37, OSI Commander Brig. Gen. Dana A. Simmons described a photograph of Balmer's unit when they were about to embark on a mission and noted how everyone looked serious, except Balmer.

"One guy had a huge smile on his face," Simmons said. "We have lost one of our best. Ryan will be sorely missed."

Balmer had reached the rank of technical sergeant, and several speakers at his memorial evoked a similar image of a man with an omnipresent smile, a look that put others at ease or drew the confidence of those he was leading and teaching.

OSI special agent John Simbulan was following Balmer's lead during one investigation when, at about 3 a.m., Balmer picked up his cell phone, called his wife and said, "Honey, I'm sorry for working so late, but I'm coming home soon," Simbulan recalled.

Those who knew Balmer said he never complained, and at 6 feet 2 inches tall, he had a commanding presence wherever he went.

Maj. Hunter K. Jones, commander of OSI Detachment 113 at Hill, said Balmer brought out the best in others and wanted to make a difference in the world.

OSI special agent Steve Cox pointed to a large photo of a grinning Balmer. "That right there is the way I'll remember Ryan," Cox said. "He died doing what he wanted to do."