HONORING A FALLEN YOUNG WARRIOR
Pfc. Matthew Bean, May 31, 2007
This young soldier is the grandson of one of my sisters.
Something told me this year is time to honor him again.
This was the first military funeral service I had the honor of attending. I remember the streets of Pembroke, MA lined, for literally miles to the church, with those, young and old, who came to honor him.
The full honors of a military funeral are beautiful and honorable, but gut-wrenching. It has remained in my memories and I am certain will forever.
Matt was another family member who served in the military. He is the youngest family member who paid the ultimate price of serving our country. He was on a mission to search for three of his missing fellow soldiers.
The following incident report was posted in a local newspaper:
May 31, 2007, Pfc. Matthew Bean, age 22, of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division died from wounds when shot by a sniper in Iraq on May 19th while searching for a missing fellow Massachusetts soldier and two others. Spec. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence Massachusetts and two others had been missing since a May 12th ambush about 20 miles outside of Baghdad. The body of one of the three missing, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrence, California was found May 22.
