Army SSG Matt Maupin Is Coming Home
“Matt is coming home. He’s completed his mission,” his father, Keith Maupin, said.
Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin’s mother said President Bush called her tonight to extend his condolences after the Army identified the missing soldier’s remains in Iraq.
Bush has met several times with the Maupins during the past four years and pledged to them that everything would be done to find out what had happened to their son after he was captured by insurgents on April 9, 2004.
Carolyn Maupin took the President’s call on a cell phone at 9:45 p.m. behind the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Batavia.
Carolyn Maupin’s friend, June Izzi Bailey, said she was told the White House had just found out about the DNA match and called the family as quickly as possible.
Maupin’s parents were notified earlier Sunday when a three-star general visited them and gave them the news, they said.
“Matt is coming home. He’s completed his mission,” his father, Keith Maupin, said.
Maupin was a 20-year-old specialist when he was captured on April 9, 2004, after his fuel convoy was ambushed west of Baghdad. He had been driving a supply truck.
Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape a week later 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 Glen Este High School graduate was the only U.S. military member still listed as missing-captured in Iraq.
Keith Maupin said that at about 1 p.m. Sunday, he and Matt’s mother were visited by Major General David Huntoon Jr., the Army staff director, who said DNA tests had confirmed that remains found earlier in the week in Iraq were those of their son.
Keith Maupin said that in that conversation and in subsequent conversations with Army officers, the family was given no more information about the circumstances through which the remains were found.
“We don’t know where, just somewhere in Iraq. They found a shirt similar to what he (Matt) was wearing,” Keith Maupin said. “They had DNA and confirmed it was Matt.
“We’re still just waiting for more information,” he said.
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
Maupin thanked the thousands of people who supported the family during their four-year ordeal and wore yellow ribbons or displayed them on their homes, cars and businesses, hoping someday for Matt’s return.
He also thanked the military for not giving up the search for his son. 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.
“We want to thank all the guys who searched for Matt,” he said.
Matt Maupin graduated from Glen Este in 2001 and attended the University of Cincinnati for a year before joining the Army Reserves.
Remembering her son as an easy-spirited young man who went with the flow, Carolyn Maupin said she’d learned a simple lesson from her loss: “Enjoy each day you have.”
“It’s going to be very difficult,” she said. “If you stay by our side and support us, that would be great.”
Keith Maupin recalled telling his son to do the best he could in every aspect of life.
Win, lose or draw, we’re gonna get something to eat,” Keith Maupin would tell Matt, a former Glen Este football player.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, he ended that phrase, saying, “And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Former Congressman Rob Portman, who represented Matt’s home district in Batavia, lobbied for the Maupin family, checking in with the defense officials daily to make sure they were doing all they could to bring the young soldier home.
Even as Matt’s parents came to grips with their own grief, Portman said, they were working to make sure their son did not die in vain.
“My heart goes out to the family,” Portman said Sunday night. “I’m just so impressed with how they’ve channeled their loss. They’ve been so focused on how to make sure their loss and their sacrifice helps others.”
Dan Simmons, the athletic director at Glen Este, remembered Maupin Sunday 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.”
Flags will be placed at half-staff Monday at all county buildings, said Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud. He called Matt Mauplin “our native son, an American hero and an inspiration to all of us.”
(Cinn Enq)
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With all due respect to the father, I would like to think Matt has been “Home” since 2004. RIP Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:51 pmNo It is not complete for the family until they are home. I know this first hand. I can not imagine waiting 4 years to bring my son home. I had to wait a week and it was the worst of my life.
Bless this family for their courage and strength. May your son’s homecoming bring you some peace.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pmWhy is it we keep playing the PC game when it comes down to the treatment of enemy combatants. The enemy NEVER treats our soldiers like we treat theirs.
Each and every time, the enemy captures one of our troops, they are found maimed, tortured and murdered. So why give a damn about theirs?
Thank God for DNA. Otherwise we’d have another “unknown” to bury. At least now the family can have closure.
To the beeyatchs that did this murder, one day we’ll find you. One day you will get your one-way ticket to Paradise…er I mean hell.
To the military: Thanks for never giving up the search. Now, if we could only find the remains of Scott Speicher….
Kudos to the folks involved in the search and recovery. Would like to hear how you did it.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:02 pmA “Good & Loyal Servant” at home with the Maker.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:10 pmRIP Matt - If I were his mom, I would be so very heart broken, but relieved . . . not knowing would be horrible after all these years and there is peace in knowing that he is no longer suffering . . . my greatest fear would have been that he was still alive and being tortured horribly every single day. Bless his heart. I pray for peace for his parents. American troops are heroes.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:13 pmMatt was from a town about 15 or 20 minutes away from me.i had been there many times. followed this closely and was watching my local abc station when they broke in with this. his dad has been solid through it all, been involved in lots of programs and rallies throughout the area. the cincinnati area never forgot.
Im glad they finally found him and his parents can have the closure they have seeked for years.
Thanks for your service Matt
March 30th, 2008 at 7:16 pmHe’s not the last of the missing. The others are:
Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez and
March 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pmSpc. Ahmed K. Altaie.
May they find peace now.
………
God Bless you Ang.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pmAng - Read Leatherneck’s comment which explains my comment.
My father died from complications of wounds suffered in his second tour of Nam so I understand your statement. It’s comforting to have a place to go and spend time close to our deceased loved ones.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:29 pmHowever, I truly believe that our military men and women have an immediate special “Home” reserved for them in Heaven due to their ultimate sacrifice for neighbor….regardless of where the flesh rests.
I find great solace knowing that based on my faith, I have an opportunity to see my father again when my soul leaves this earth.
But to each their own…
I am now filling with rage.
Savages, fucking savages. These animals deserve nothing but to be sent to hell.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:38 pmNice sentiment Leatherneck,
Rest in peace Matt.
March 30th, 2008 at 8:12 pmThank you for keeping us safe, God Bless.
They waited a very long and difficult time. They wanted so much for him to be alive somewhere and not to give up hope. My heart goes out to them. They needed this closure. To never know would be horrible.
Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin R.I.P. you did not die in vain.
March 30th, 2008 at 8:31 pmI’ve been following this story very closely… I still held out some hope that Matt would come home alive.
Rest in peace, hero! You will never be forgotten.
I hope they find other missing soldiers.
March 30th, 2008 at 9:32 pmGod bless Matt’s family. I will never rest a night without thanking the sacrifices that those like Matt have made and the loss that his family has endured for our safety and security.
Words alone cannot make up for our debt. Thank you so much.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:46 pmOur heros are many, we need to take time to thank them daily. God Bless him and his family from a Toledoan.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pmRest in peace Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin… and prayers for the Maupin family…
March 31st, 2008 at 2:31 amR.I.P and thanks
I was so hoping for a better outcome. I hope they catch whoever did this 
March 31st, 2008 at 2:44 amJust went to the websites of two ny papers-NOT ONE mention-how they just ignore what hapepnd to him?
March 31st, 2008 at 3:03 amI have been wondering for awhile now whatever happened to him, if he’d been found or was still missing. At least his Mom and Dad can now rest easy knowing he’s not suffering.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:16 amRest In Peace Sgt. Maupin.
Thank God this HERO is home. Many thanks and prayers for all.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:57 amWell done Sgt.!
Notice how there never is a good outcome of the missing—when it comes to Islam.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:56 amGod Bless and Rest In Peace. Thank you Maupin Family for your ultimate sacrafice.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:15 amMay God’s Blessings, peace and comfort surround the Maupin Family.
Rest assured, all things covered will be uncovered, and the ending to all of this was long ago foretold. And Matt is on the winning side.
You have all of our love and prayers.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:58 amI was hoping for something good to happen but I’ve been known to be too optimistic.
At least his family and friends have closure. May the Lord bless them.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:38 amMay God hold him and his family in the palm of his hand. God Bless them…
March 31st, 2008 at 12:30 pmThey shall not grow old.As we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them,nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them….
March 31st, 2008 at 3:56 pm@Ang…
Without purpose, there is no redemption, and without redemption there is no purpose…your sacrifice is a burden that will be carried by all of us who believe that fighting for our freedoms is more than just a noble cause.
As the mother of a Fallen Angel, you have our love and devotion for what you have so selflessly given us. God Bless you and know that we are thinking of you always.
The Maupin family has at last brought their young hero back to the fold. What terrible pain and uncertainty they must have experienced while he was missing in action. Can we even imagine going to bed at night not knowing where our children were and whether or not they were safe? For years on end?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pmGod will keep Matt and his kith and kin close to his breast for all of eternity…
God bless Matt. Thanks for serving and giving the ultimate sacrifice to the nation. Thank you for keeping us safe.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:08 pmGodspeed Matt, and God Bless the Maupin family.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:40 pmDeath is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am me and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used to.
Put no difference in your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed together at little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, laugh, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind, because I am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval. Somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well!
–Harry Scott Holland
Matt will not be forgotten. God bless him and keep him. I pray for his family and loved ones to find peace knowing he is finally home.
With deep gratitude,
April 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pmA soldier’s mom