Castle Shannon has lost an unassuming hero.

Marine Sgt. Ryan H. Lane, 25, the son of former longtime Castle Shannon police Chief Harold Lane, was killed Thursday in combat in Afghanistan. He leaves behind a wife of nearly three years.

"You know, you read about things like this in the paper all the time, but when it hits home, when it's somebody you know — that's when you realize how bad it is," Castle Shannon Mayor Don Baumgarten said Friday at the borough offices, where a flag out front flew at half-staff.

"It's still unbelievable," said Shirley McMonagle, Castle Shannon police secretary who worked with Harold Lane for 30 years and had known Ryan since he was a baby.

"All I can see when I think of him in combat is him being the first one going ahead," she said. "He won all these medals with the Marines, but he never wanted to talk about that or what he was doing over there. ... He's a hero. He's our hero."

Lane joined the Marines in 2002 immediately after graduating from Keystone Oaks High School. He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, McMonagle said.

Lane died of wounds suffered while supporting combat operations in the Helmand province, according to the Department of Defense. He was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Lane's family was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Baumgarten said Harold Lane spent the day driving to Dover, Del., with some of Lane's three brothers and Lane's wife, Valerie, to meet the military plane carrying his son's remains home.

"It's difficult to talk about. He was a fantastic young man," Baumgarten said, pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. "I feel so bad for his father. Nobody wants to bury their own kid."

Harold Lane was the Castle Shannon police chief for 17 years. He stepped down last month to start a new career as an investigator for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Baumgarten said.

Lane's death is a blow to a family that for decades has been a "pillar of the community," said Keystone Oaks Principal Scott Hagy.

"That's just very unfortunate," Hagy said. "It seems like more and more of our kids are getting involved in the military ... and it seems like in Western Pennsylvania we're having more and more of these stories."

Ryan and Valerie Lane married here in October 2006, McMonagle said. They lived in Camp Lejeune, where they recently bought their first home, she said.

One of Lane's three brothers works for the Castle Shannon police department. Police officials declined to comment yesterday.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Baumgarten said borough officials will honor Lane according to the family's wishes. Borough offices will close the day he is buried.

"It's just too tragic," he said. "He was a great kid. He loved the Marines, always wanted to be a Marine. ... He died doing what he wanted to do."

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