Matt Maupin
Keith Matthew Maupin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | Matt |
| Rank | SSG |
| Unit | U.S. Army Reserves, 724th Transportation Company |
| Battles/wars | Post-invasion Iraq |
Keith Matthew "Matt" Maupin (13 July, 1983–) is a United States Army PFC captured by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 while serving in the Iraq War after his convoy came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire near Baghdad, Iraq. On June 28, 2004, Al Jazeera reported that he was executed by his captors who shot him in the head. On June 30, 2004, an Army spokesman said the video showing Maupin's alleged death was "totally inconclusive." [1]
Biography
Born on July 13, 1983 in Batavia, Ohio, Maupin was a 3.5 grade-point-average student and football player at Glen Este High School in Union Township, Clermont County, Ohio. He was also a rower for Glen Este High School and Clermont High School Crew, whose boathouse is on Harsha Lake, East Fork State Park, Bethel, OH. He graduated in 2001 and enrolled in the University of Cincinnati Aerospace Engineering Program using a scholarship that he received from winning a writing competition. In 2002 he joined the United States Army Reserve and was stationed with the 705th Transportation Battalion based in Dayton, Ohio.
Maupin began basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and continued on to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for training as a Motor Transport Operator (88M). By the time he had completed training in spring of 2003, the 705th Transportation Battalion had deployed to Iraq and Maupin assigned to the 643rd Area Support Group out of Whitehall, Ohio.
While fulfilling his monthly obligations as a reservist, Maupin worked at Sam's Club warehouse store and continued courses at the University of Cincinnati. In November 2003 Maupin was transferred to the recently mobilized 724th Transportation Company based out of Bartonville, Illinois. Maupin and the 724th TC arrived in Kuwait on February 20, 2004 and on March 5 proceeded to LSA Anaconda, Iraq with the 7th Transportation Battalion, 172d Corps Support Group, 13th Corps Support Command, to begin missions delivering fuel to various coalition installations.
On April 9, 2004, Maupin's fuel convoy came under attack near the Baghdad International Airport. In what was described as a 5-mile long ambush, the 26-vehicle serial was pummeled by gunfire, mortar rounds and RPGs, disabling many of the civilian fuel tankers and Army vehicles. After the remnants of the convoy reached safe ground it was learned that around ten soldiers and civilian KBR contractors were wounded while one soldier and a civilian driver had been killed in the battle. PFC Maupin was among the nine people unaccounted for – seven civilians and two soldiers. One of the missing civilian drivers, Thomas Hamill, had been taken hostage during the ambush and escaped his captors on May 2, 2004. The bodies of five other civilians and the second soldier were subsequently recovered (all are thought to have been killed in the ambush); Civilian driver Timothy Bell remains missing and is presumed dead since he never appeared in a hostage video.
On April 16, 2004, Maupin appeared on a videotape broadcast by the Arabic-language TV network Al Jazeera. The tape, reportedly delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, raised hopes that Maupin was still alive. In the video, the soldier identified himself as "Private First Class Keith Matthew Maupin", a standard procedure followed by prisoners of war which protect their rights under the Third Geneva Convention.
On June 28, 2004, Al Jazeera reported that Maupin was executed by a group identifying itself as the Persistent Power Against the Enemies of God and the Prophet. The method of execution in the alleged report was a gunshot to the head. The U.S. Army has deemed the tape inconclusive because it is unclear whether the man was Maupin or if anyone was executed at all. The military continues to search for Maupin as his family and community holds out hope for his safe return.
The Clermont County community, friends of Maupin's family, and Clermont High School Crew raised funds and received donations to build a memorial pavilion in his honor at the finish line of the rowing race course on Harsha Lake Beach, East Fork State Park, Bethel, Ohio.
Maupin has been promoted three times since he was declared missing in action, first from Private First Class to Specialist, then to Sergeant, then lastly, Staff Sergeant. As of Feburary 23, 2007, he and Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie are still missing.[2]
"Love Never Loses It's Way Home", is a phrase used in Iraq among the troops to 'describe' Sergeant Maupin.
Also see
References
- Time Where is Matt Maupin Monday, Feb. 14, 2005
- Aljazeera. Purported Iraqi group executes US soldier. Doha, Qatar: Aljazeera. June 29, 2004.
- CNN. Kidnapped U.S. contractor found safe. Atlanta, Georgia: Cable News Network. May 2, 2004.
- WCPO.com Matt Maupin's Parents Talk About Their Ordeal. November 9, 2004. ,
- CNN. Insurgents captured soldiers. Atlanta, Georgia: Cable News Network. June 17, 2006.
- Yellow Ribbon Support Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. Yellow Ribbon Support Center