Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Dayton Daily News
April 1, 2008
Pg. 1
Remains found in northwest Baghdad; sent back to the United States and positively identified on Saturday.
By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer
A tip from a local Iraqi led to the discovery of the remains of missing Army reservist Matt Maupin of Batavia, an Army official in Iraq said Monday, March 31.
Maj. Mark Cheadle with the Multi-National Division public affairs office in Baghdad, said the military had received a number of tips since the 20-year-old private first class disappeared after his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad on April 9, 2004.
"We treated each (tip) with the respect it deserved. This was the first one that was able to result in the positive exhumation of the remains," he said.
"The local Iraqis really respect the efforts we take to care for our own," Cheadle said. "They respect the fact we respect our families as highly as we do and as they do. It was very important for them to be a part of it. They still search for many of their loved ones."
Cheadle said the remains were discovered in northwest Baghdad. Units that fall under the command of the 4th Infantry Division recovered Maupin's remains, which were sent back to the United States and positively identified Saturday, Cheadle said.
"The entire incident is tragic and yet there is absolutely a final sense of honoring a hero when we're allowed to put the wonder to rest and know that his family is at peace with the discovery," Cheadle said.
Maupin's parents, Keith and Carolyn Maupin, were notified at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center near Cincinnati on Sunday that their son's remains had been recovered.
On Monday, the Department of Defense announced the change in Maupin's status from missing-captured to deceased and reported his rank as staff sergeant.
A week after the soldier went missing, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing him 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 remained hopeful he was alive and kept busy at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center they started. It has sent thousands of gift boxes to troops overseas and awarded 180 scholarships in honor of fallen soldiers.
Matt Maupin's great aunt, Judy Call of Kettering, believes having him back on U.S. soil will finally offer some closure to his parents.
"I think what it will do for them is to relieve the always wondering and not knowing, 'Where is he?' "
April 1, 2008
Pg. 1
Remains found in northwest Baghdad; sent back to the United States and positively identified on Saturday.
By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writer
A tip from a local Iraqi led to the discovery of the remains of missing Army reservist Matt Maupin of Batavia, an Army official in Iraq said Monday, March 31.
Maj. Mark Cheadle with the Multi-National Division public affairs office in Baghdad, said the military had received a number of tips since the 20-year-old private first class disappeared after his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad on April 9, 2004.
"We treated each (tip) with the respect it deserved. This was the first one that was able to result in the positive exhumation of the remains," he said.
"The local Iraqis really respect the efforts we take to care for our own," Cheadle said. "They respect the fact we respect our families as highly as we do and as they do. It was very important for them to be a part of it. They still search for many of their loved ones."
Cheadle said the remains were discovered in northwest Baghdad. Units that fall under the command of the 4th Infantry Division recovered Maupin's remains, which were sent back to the United States and positively identified Saturday, Cheadle said.
"The entire incident is tragic and yet there is absolutely a final sense of honoring a hero when we're allowed to put the wonder to rest and know that his family is at peace with the discovery," Cheadle said.
Maupin's parents, Keith and Carolyn Maupin, were notified at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center near Cincinnati on Sunday that their son's remains had been recovered.
On Monday, the Department of Defense announced the change in Maupin's status from missing-captured to deceased and reported his rank as staff sergeant.
A week after the soldier went missing, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing him 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 remained hopeful he was alive and kept busy at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center they started. It has sent thousands of gift boxes to troops overseas and awarded 180 scholarships in honor of fallen soldiers.
Matt Maupin's great aunt, Judy Call of Kettering, believes having him back on U.S. soil will finally offer some closure to his parents.
"I think what it will do for them is to relieve the always wondering and not knowing, 'Where is he?' "