Thousands attend service for former MIA Maupin
CINCINNATI — Yes, there were many tears Sunday afternoon as Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin was finally laid to rest. But they were not all tears of sorrow.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/04/gns_maupin_042708/
By Howard Wilkinson and Cliff Radel - The Cincinnati Enquirer
Posted : Monday Apr 28, 2008 8:59:19 EDT
Pride, love, appreciation for those who wear the uniform — those produced tears, too.
For the 3,502 people who came through the turnstiles at Great American Ball Park to pay their respects, and for the small group of family and friends who buried Maupin in a private ceremony later in the afternoon, the final chapter of the soldier’s saga was about healing and thanksgiving: healing the hurt of a family that had endured a four-year nightmare, and thanks that there are young men and women like Matt Maupin willing to sacrifice all for their country.
Maupin’s story gripped the hearts of thousands around the country for nearly four years. The 20-year-old Army reservist was assigned to guard a convoy near the Baghdad airport in April 2004, when an attack by insurgents left two of his fellow soldiers dead and him a captive.
He was, at the time, the only U.S. soldier in captivity, and next to nothing was known of his fate until his body was found last month by U.S. soldiers northwest of Baghdad.
Men in VFW and American Legion caps stood side by side Sunday with soldiers in desert camouflage young enough to be their grandchildren. Bikers by the hundreds from Rolling Thunder, the Vietnam veterans, and the Patriot Guard, lined the streets outside the ballpark.
As the crowd filed out of the ballpark after the funeral, Tim Nienaber, 54, of Price Hill leaned on a railing and clutched an American flag while an Army band along the first-base line and played “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Nienaber stared at the stage that minutes earlier had held Maupin’s casket.
“That could have been my son,” Nienaber said. His son, Patrick, was stationed in Iraq when insurgents captured Maupin.
“He did the same thing Matt did. He guarded convoys,” Nienaber said. “When he came home, we threw him one heck of a party. I wish Matt Maupin’s mom and dad could have done that.”
John and Carol Prazynski, father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, a Fairfield Marine who died in Iraq nearly three years ago, have become good friends with Keith and Carolyn Maupin, Matt Maupin’s parents.
Carol Prazynski said what has impressed her most about the Maupins is that they have put so much time and effort into helping other military families while suffering through the agony of not knowing what happened to their own son.
“They have always honored all of the fallen and have always been friends to all the Gold Star families,” Carol Prazynski said.
For the Maupin family, the day began with a public outpouring of love and affection from the thousands at the ballpark. It ended in the late afternoon when a small procession took Matt Maupin to Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery, where he was buried with full military honors, surrounded by his parents, his siblings — Lee Ann Cottrell, Stephen Spencer and Marine Sgt. Micah Maupin — and a small circle of friends.
The family wanted the burial to be a private goodbye. But they also wanted to share Matt Maupin’s return with the thousands of Cincinnati-area people who have hoped and prayed for four years for his safe return. That public part began Saturday morning with a 20-hour visitation at the Union Township Civic Center that saw about 10,000 people pass by his casket.
Sunday’s funeral service at Great American Ball Park was scheduled to last an hour but stretched out for another half-hour because of all the tributes and the messages of solace.
Army chaplain Jason Logan began the service promptly at 1 p.m., urging the audience to “celebrate the life of a unique soldier” and “to give God thanks for this special gift.”
Logan asked the audience to stand in a moment of silent prayer “not only for Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin but all who have given their lives, especially from this community.”
Maupin’s brother-in-law, Carl Cottrell, delivered a eulogy in which he read letters Maupin’s siblings had written as a final tribute after his death.
Maupin’s brother Micah, now a Marine sergeant, wrote of a childhood trip to Kings Island where they rode The Beast roller-coaster and how Matt had stepped in and saved his brother when he got into a fight with a bigger kid.
“I knew you would always be there for me, no matter what,” Micah wrote. “God could not have chosen a better soldier than you.”
After the benediction was read, the pallbearers lifted the casket off its bier and several dozen white doves were released from the visitors’ dugout. The doves circled the ballpark as pallbearers slowly carried the casket to a waiting hearse.
Keith and Carolyn Maupin walked behind the hearse as it drove slowly around the warning track and into the center field bay, where the funeral procession begin. The 100 family members, friends and military officials who would accompany them to the cemetery followed behind the Maupins.
After they had exited the field, several soldiers came out to the platform and removed the army boots, rifle, helmet and dog tags that had been sitting in front of the casket. The crowd, which stood throughout the end of the ceremony, applauded as the items were removed.
After the funeral, hundreds of mourners lingered outside the ballpark, many of them hugging one another and wiping away tears.
Brooke Rogg, 8, from Newtown, and her friend, 12-yer-old Sara Campbell, from Sharonville, held homemade signs.
“It was sad,” Brooke said. “But at least he’s home with his family.”