thedrifter
02-28-06, 07:13 AM
Posted on Mon, Feb. 27, 2006
North Alabama marine killed in Iraq remembered as "American hero"
Associated Press
GREENHILL, Ala. - A Lauderdale County native was remembered as a "Marine's Marine" and a "true American hero" at a funeral held on the same day as his 22nd birthday.
More than 1,200 family, friends, veterans and community members filled Rogers High School gym in Greenhill on Sunday to mourn Cpl. Matthew Conley, who was killed in Iraq after a device exploded near the Humvee he was riding in Feb. 19.
"He was a special individual," said Michael Noe, Conley's cousin. "He would have given his life to each and every one of us, and that's what he did."
Conley graduated from Rogers High School in 2002, where he was quarterback of the football team. He was a squad leader for the 37th Weaponry Division of the U.S. Marine Corps, stationed at 29 Palms, Calif., and had been in Iraq since September 2005.
He was scheduled to leave Iraq on March 6 and was to be home on March 22.
Family and friends were planning a belated celebration for his Feb. 26 birthday and were going to have a baby shower for him and his wife, Nicole, who is expecting their first child in March.
The crowd at the high school stood as pallbearers from the U.S. Marine Corps escorted the coffin, draped in the American flag, into the gym. Several in the audience saluted as the casket went by.
Pastor Al Geise, who conducted the funeral service, said he had talked with Nicole Conley about the couple's plans for the future.
"She told me how Matt was looking forward to being at home and to be a dad," Geise said. "He was excited about having a daughter - Catherine Mattison. (Nicole) said now all the plans will be just memories. But I told her, they will be precious memories."
Conley's former basketball coach and teacher, Lee Walker, called Conley a true American hero, saying his former student had all the qualities to be one.
"We are reaping the rewards of freedom because of this young man," he said.
Some 500 attended a graveside service that followed at the Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens in Florence. Member's of the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard closed the burial service with a 21-gun salute and the family released 21 white doves that flew in a circle over the cemetery before flying away.
Geise said, "Matt was known as a Marine's Marine. ... No one simply joins the Marines. Matt earned the right to be called a Marine."
Information from: TimesDaily, www.timesdaily.com/
Rest In Peace
Ellie
North Alabama marine killed in Iraq remembered as "American hero"
Associated Press
GREENHILL, Ala. - A Lauderdale County native was remembered as a "Marine's Marine" and a "true American hero" at a funeral held on the same day as his 22nd birthday.
More than 1,200 family, friends, veterans and community members filled Rogers High School gym in Greenhill on Sunday to mourn Cpl. Matthew Conley, who was killed in Iraq after a device exploded near the Humvee he was riding in Feb. 19.
"He was a special individual," said Michael Noe, Conley's cousin. "He would have given his life to each and every one of us, and that's what he did."
Conley graduated from Rogers High School in 2002, where he was quarterback of the football team. He was a squad leader for the 37th Weaponry Division of the U.S. Marine Corps, stationed at 29 Palms, Calif., and had been in Iraq since September 2005.
He was scheduled to leave Iraq on March 6 and was to be home on March 22.
Family and friends were planning a belated celebration for his Feb. 26 birthday and were going to have a baby shower for him and his wife, Nicole, who is expecting their first child in March.
The crowd at the high school stood as pallbearers from the U.S. Marine Corps escorted the coffin, draped in the American flag, into the gym. Several in the audience saluted as the casket went by.
Pastor Al Geise, who conducted the funeral service, said he had talked with Nicole Conley about the couple's plans for the future.
"She told me how Matt was looking forward to being at home and to be a dad," Geise said. "He was excited about having a daughter - Catherine Mattison. (Nicole) said now all the plans will be just memories. But I told her, they will be precious memories."
Conley's former basketball coach and teacher, Lee Walker, called Conley a true American hero, saying his former student had all the qualities to be one.
"We are reaping the rewards of freedom because of this young man," he said.
Some 500 attended a graveside service that followed at the Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens in Florence. Member's of the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard closed the burial service with a 21-gun salute and the family released 21 white doves that flew in a circle over the cemetery before flying away.
Geise said, "Matt was known as a Marine's Marine. ... No one simply joins the Marines. Matt earned the right to be called a Marine."
Information from: TimesDaily, www.timesdaily.com/
Rest In Peace
Ellie