In Memory of Matt Maupin
The following is from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Tuesday, April 1, 2008:
We all would like to think that our lives have made a difference. Army Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, we now regrettably have learned, died not knowing that he has made - is making - a far greater difference than he could have imagined.
Missing for nearly four years in Iraq since being captured in an April 9, 2004, attack on his convoy, the Glen Este High School graduate brought his community together in a meaningful and lasting way.
His plight gave family, friends and strangers - here at home and nationwide - a cause to rally around, a focus on which to achieve worthy goals. Thousands in Greater Cincinnati fervently held out hope for his safe return.
But it was not to be. An Army general visited Carolyn and Keith Maupin in Batavia early Sunday afternoon to inform them that the remains of their son, who had been the only American military member unaccounted for in Iraq, had been found and positively identified through DNA. It is not yet known how long ago he died.
Later on Sunday, friends and longtime supporters of the Maupin family gathered with them for a candlelight vigil at the office of the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, which has gone far beyond its original mission to help in the search for Matt. President Bush, who has long taken a interest in Matt's case, called to offer his condolences.
March 2008 had been an eventful month in the Iraq war - the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, the marking of the 4,000th U.S. military death, an uptick in violence after months of declining hostility.
So there's a sad closure in the fact that the agonizingly long-awaited news of his fate should end that month: Matt, perhaps more than any other American serving in that conflict, has helped put a tangible, individual human face on an issue filled with abstractions and acrimony.
However you feel about the war in Iraq, the story of Matt Maupin - who had joined the Army Reserve to earn money for college - brings home the human cost of war, the lost potential, the lives not fully lived.
Through it all, Matt's family acted with incredible grace, strength and courage, looking beyond themselves and their pain. Keith and Carolyn Maupin maintained a measured, dignified presence in their public appearances and comments. Although they were at times fiercely skeptical of U.S. officials' efforts to find their son, they never conflated that issue with criticism of the war effort.
Their focus remained on unifying people on Matt's behalf, and despite the finality of his loss, the results - the community's varied and heartfelt responses - speak for themselves.
The Yellow Ribbon Support Center has taken on various projects, most notably providing 90 computers with Web cams to a camp in Iraq were he was based, establishing an Internet café and computer lab in his name for soldiers to communicate with loved ones.
The Matt Maupin Scholarship Fund, which holds an April 9 dinner expected to draw 2,000 people, is one of several funds that will continue to benefit students on his behalf. Community groups have taken on projects in Matt's name, sending candy and supplies to troops in Iraq and supporting their families at home. The second annual Matt Maupin Baseball Tournament benefit takes place on Memorial Day weekend at Tealtown Ball Park and other fields.
All this no doubt would have amazed and pleased Matt Maupin, who friends remembered as a selfless and easygoing but hard-working young man.
"Matt is coming home," his father said Sunday. "He's completed his mission."
Mission, perhaps. But Matt Maupin's legacy of service and healing may have just begun.
Midi playing = Braveheart
