Sunday, March 30, 2008

Matt Maupin is no longer with us, but his patriotism and love of his country lives on


Keith Matthew Maupin: Thank you for your service.


Via ABC News (HT: BizzyBlog via email):
The father of a soldier listed as missing-captured in Iraq since 2004 said Sunday that the military had informed him that his son's remains were found in Iraq.

Keith Maupin said at a news conference in suburban Cincinnati that an Army general told him DNA testing had identified the remains of his son, Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, or "Matt" as he was commonly known.

Lt. Lee Packnett, an Army public affairs officer in Washington, confirmed that the Maupins were notified Sunday that their son's remains had been identified. Packnett said an official statement about the identification would be released Monday.

Matt Maupin was a 20-year-old private first class when he was captured April 9, 2004, after his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad.

A week later, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark and grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and not the actual shooting.

The Maupins refused to believe it was their son, and the Army had listed him as missing-captured. The Maupins lobbied hard for the Army to continue listing their son as missing-captured, fearing that another designation would undermine efforts to find him.

"You never stop hoping. You never know," his mother, Carolyn Maupin, said in 2006 after Iraqi al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike, leading to speculation that U.S. intelligence could be getting closer to learning Maupin's fate.

Matt Maupin graduated from Glen Este High School, just east of Cincinnati, in 2001 and attended the University of Cincinnati for a year before joining the Army Reserves.

Dan Simmons, the athletic director at Glen Este, remembered Maupin as a quiet but hardworking backup player on the school's football team.

"Matt was a selfless kid on the football field," Simmons said. "He did whatever the coaches told him. He wasn't a starter, but he made the other kids play harder."

A month after his capture, Maupin was promoted to the rank of specialist. In April 2005, Maupin was promoted to sergeant.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Our prayers are with this soldier"s family. We hope that they can find peqace knowing that their son died defending our country against rabid dogs who will kill any one who does not adopt thie beliefs. I only hope that the government will treat this Family and the other families of soldiers who have been injured or died, as well as the injured soldiers better. It seems that the "pols" are more content to take care of themselves and fight among themselves than be mature leaders of our country while others make extreem sacrafices to defend us.
Thank You to the Maupins and other like them, words are not near enough. Paryers are all we can offer for their peace!

March 31, 2008 at 12:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Our prayers are with this soldier"s family. We hope that they can find peace knowing that their son died defending our country against rabid dogs who will kill any one who does not adopt their beliefs. I only hope that the government will treat this Family and the other families of soldiers who have been injured or died, as well as the injured soldiers, better. It seems that the "pols" are more content to take care of themselves and fight among themselves than be mature leaders of our country while others make extreem sacrafices to defend us.
Thank You to the Maupins and other like them, words are not near enough. Prayers are all we can offer for their peace!

March 31, 2008 at 12:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To the Maupin Family: Please know that Matt's sacrifice will always count, always be appreciated. Despite conflicting opinions about the war, our country is grateful for your son's patriotism. Without him, we wouldn't be free to post our gratitude and our sympathies, which are great. You are in our prayers.

March 31, 2008 at 12:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I pray that some of our Leaders and Citizens would be as concerned about this type of torture as they seem to be about waterboarding !!!

From one retired GI, I'm sure that God has already taken this Soldier and given him the Peace that he so richley deserves.
I pray that God finally gives his Family the Peace they deserve.

God bless you Soldier. It's time to rest.

March 31, 2008 at 1:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clermont County and Cincinnati is giving Matt and The Maupin Family they deserve today, God Bless them!

April 26, 2008 at 10:13 AM  

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