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.

He was the second county native to be a victim of violence in Iraq on Sunday.

U.S. Army Sgt. Jordan Ketner, 20, a 2001 Manheim Township High School graduate, was wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded under his unit's Humvee.

Ketner underwent surgery for a broken ankle and is recuperating from his injuries, his family said.

"The blast came right up through the floor (of the Humvee),'' said Ketner's brother, Joel.

"He caught most of the shrapnel in his left leg...The other injuries are from the oil, heat and fire.'' Manelick's mother said her family is still waiting to hear more details about the attack that killed her son.

Iraqi people worked for Manelick, helping him to obtain supplies for bases in about 10 cities, she said.

Manelick's grandfather, Nicholas Manelick of Russell in Warren County said his grandson was with two Iraqis when the shooting occurred.

"A car pulled up beside them and (the occupants) started shooting,'' Manelick said. "Ryan was killed instantly.'' The Iraqi in the passenger's seat was wounded and died later. The other Iraqi was not harmed in the attack.

Mrs. Manelick said her family found out about her son's death via a telephone call from the State Department.

She said a representative from her son's company, Ultra Services//Irex Corp., plans to attend her son's funeral Monday. She does not know if that person will be able to tell them more about the attack.

Manelick had gone to Baghdad in August and was living in company-supplied housing, his mother said. He was chief operations officer and logistics and services manager for the company.

"It was very busy,'' she said. "He was on the go constantly.'' Her son saw some unrest while overseas, she said.

And while family members were excited at the news of Saddam Hussein's capture last weekend, they were worried about Manelick's safety, she said.

"I didn't think that was going to solve things overnight,'' she said.

Manelick recently had been e-mailing his family and talking to them on the telephone frequently.

"He was supposed to be coming home for Christmas,'' she said. "We had gotten him his airline tickets.'' Manelick was planning to bring his son, Anthony, 4, and his daughter, Brittany, 6, for the holiday visit. He is divorced and his children live with his ex-wife in Pasadena, Md.

Manelick enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing football, painting and drawing.

While at CV, he was active with theater productions, his mother said.

After high school, he attended Juniata College for a short time to study art but later left college to enlist in the U.S. Air Force.

He attended the Defense Language Institute, studying first Chinese and later Spanish. He left the Air Force due to medical problems and moved to Texas, where he worked for a time before taking the job in Iraq.

Welk said her son was planning to travel to Moscow after the holiday visit with his family in New Holland to look into another job opportunity.

"He wanted to do something special,'' she said.

The family is setting up an account for Manelick's children at the Blue Ball National Bank, Welk said. They are requesting donations to go there in lieu of flowers.

Ketner's family is waiting to hear more about his condition.

Joel Ketner said the family has not been able to maintain daily contact with his brother but has had updates from the military and other soldiers.

Ketner, the son of Sandy and Scott Ketner, was one of three soldiers riding in the Humvee at the time of the attack, his brother said. The other two soldiers were not injured.

Shrapnel from the bomb and the steel drum holding it hit Ketner, who was in the passenger's seat, in the chest. Fortunately, he was wearing a protective Kevlar vest.

"It saved his life, I'm sure,'' Joel Ketner said.

Last year, Ketner was riding in one of two Humvees that came under attack in Afghanistan, his brother said. Ketner's sergeant was killed in the attack.

Ketner is the second soldier from Lancaster County known to have been wounded in Iraq.

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Shiflet was wounded in June when the light armored vehicle he was commanding crashed while responding to an ambush.

He was a 1991 Conestoga Valley High School graduate, like Manelick.