U.S. Sailor from Lisle Killed While Serving in Anti-ISIS Effort in the Middle East

Ryan Burris, 24, of Lisle, a 2009 Lisle High School graduate and a sailor in the U.S. Navy for the last three years, died in Abu Dhabi on May 21 in a non-combat incident, according to the Department of Defense. His death is under investigation.

A petty officer 3rd class, Burris was temporarily assigned to the Crisis Response Element of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the military’s anti-ISIS effort, according to a DOD news release. This was his first deployment overseas.

“He was just a really nice guy, you could call him the typical all-American,” his mother Karen Burris, told the Chicago Tribune. “And he really did like apple pie. ...

“There’s a lot of patriotic heritage, we’re very proud of our family,” she said, noting how his grandfathers had served in the Army and Navy and his father in the Army. “Every mother worries about her child. Well, this is always what he’s wanted to do. He wanted to follow his dreams and I was with him 100 percent.”