Matthew Maupin - An American Hero

Words of wisdom and the sharing of truths of life are sometimes difficult to understand when we are young and lacking in experiences that reinforce those life lessons. I have attempted in my life to live my Christian faith in a true and real way that values and respects the journey of life and the friendships introduced and established. Sometime we meet people, and they are interesting. We enjoy our first contact, but because of life herself, we pass and never meet again to grow that friendship. Other times we begin the same way, but opportunity continues to arise and only later in life do we discover the impact of that crossing and understand some of the wisdom of life that has been shared with us.
The song says, “It’s a small world after all”, and I find this truth to be one that took years for me to understand and believe. Sure we agree in principal that it is a small world, meaning we will see and meet people everywhere that we know or that know us. This real truth and value takes years to appreciate. Through life’s journey, I was introduced to the support family of Army Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin. This happened through the wedding of Ken & Amy Fritz in Northern Kentucky. My support for the military is no secret, and my respect for our armed services is a part of who I am as a citizen. I am one who deeply appreciates his constitutional freedoms.
I have written many times about Delta Company of the 149th, as the first unit of the Kentucky National Guard from this area to make her way to the battle zone in Iraq. I hold in great respect Adjutant General Donald C. Storm. He has been a friend to me in time of family crises because of the Iraq War, and his assistance to a soldier’s family will never be forgotten on my part.
The service of Matt Maupin begins with enlistment in the Army Reserves after high school. He played football for Glen Este High School in Union Township in Ohio, a city with a population of 1,600. His parents are great people. They created the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in support of US Troops. They established this center because of the events of April 9, 2004. This is the day their son was captured by insurgents in Iraq. His video was placed on Al Jazeera television, one week after his capture, with five masked men holding automatic rifles. Matthew has been the only American soldier who has been unaccounted for in Iraq, until now. He was reported alive on one video and reportedly killed through the release of another video on June 28, 2004. Arab network Al Jazeera reported that he was fatally shot in the back of the head only three months after his captivity. Matthew wasn’t listed as a POW/MIA because he was not held by a recognized government. Instead, he remained listed by the Army as missing-captured. The 20 year olds capture occurred when his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, came under attack near the Baghdad International Airport.
Matt Maupin represents the cost of freedom, and the willing sacrifice of a young life for our freedom and safety. The cost of the Iraq War is not cheap, and while officials place monetary value on such efforts, there is no proper way to put a figure on the value of one life, like Matt’s. He is a representative of all of us from small town America. Union Township is just like Pineville, but smaller then Williamsburg or Barbourville. He lived his life in small community which is like many of us. He is an America Hero who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and safety here in the United States.
The Soldiers Creed says:
I am an American Soldier
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values
I will always place the mission first
I will never accept defeat
I will never quit
I will never leave a fallen comrade
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills,
Always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional
I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America I close combat
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life
I am an American Soldier.

Matthew Maupin is an American Hero, and I have been touched by his life and his family. We have American Heroes here among us too, and this American salutes each of you. I pray God’s speed and blessings.

Until then