Baby of Fallen Wyoming Marine Rylee McCollum is Born
Fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum's baby has been born. It has been almost one month since the Wyoming native was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.
The photos above are from Jiennah Crayton's Facebook page. As of Tuesday morning at 4 am these photos had been shared over 5000 times. Hundreds of well wishes had poured in.
Levi Rylee Rose McCollum was born Monday (September 13) and weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces. Mom and newborn are at a Naval Hospital.
On a social media post McCollum’s wife, Jiennah Crayton wrote, “Welcome to the world my sweet baby I love you with my whole heart.”
Help has been pouring in for the newly widowed mom. The young couple were in their early twenties and just married. Thanks to online donations mom and baby now have a nest egg of around $827,610 and the promise of a new house to be built by a group of volunteers. Properly invested and taken care of and the new mom should be able to focus on raising her new baby.
Now the work begins of caring for a newborn and rebuilding a life. Photos and videos of the couple showed that they were happy together. He wanted to serve in the Marines for a time then take a job as a high school wrestling coach. No word yet on what mom wants to do from here.
Jackson, Wyoming turned out to bring home Fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum this lt weekend.
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- Wyoming Troop Deaths 20 Years Apart Bookend Afghanistan War
- 23 Wyomingites Have Died In The War On Terror — These Are Their Names
In the videos below you can watch the long procession of cars, motorcycles, trucks, and finally the hearse.
Plans for the funeral have not been announced yet.
Wyoming has a long tradition of bringing home those it has lost in wars with everyone turning up, flags in hand, hats off, or hands over hearts. Streets are lined with the entire town as the procession passes. This outpouring of love in Jackson was no different than in any other town in the state.
This final video we have for you is from one of the cars in the procession. You can see the entire town and flags everywhere, including a massive one hung over the street from a crane.
Special thanks to the wonderful people of Jackson, Wyoming for their outpouring of respect and love.