Comments on: My Memorial Day

By: chrishernandezauthor

chrishernandezauthor — Wed, 29 May 2019 23:23:23 +0000

In reply to Lisa Freeman. Lisa, Can I share this?

By: Lisa Freeman

Lisa Freeman — Wed, 29 May 2019 22:53:26 +0000

Again, bless you Chris. When you posted this article, it was the first time I’d heard what happened that day. It helped with closure. L love posting his last journal entry. I believe it’s what so many of our fighters believe. He was an amazing person.

Matthew’s Last Journal Entry
8/2/09

Mom, Dad, I can never repay you for all you have done for me. You made me into the man I am today. I hope that I have made you proud. That has always been my goal. I love you both so much. Tell the girls that I love them and couldn’t be a prouder older brother. I have always tried to be an honorable man and I truly believe in what we are doing here. I am doing this for my family; so that they need not fear, My country, so that it can be a beacon of light for the entire world; the men around me, because no one could ask for a more august company than the men of the US Armed Forces and finally I do this for myself so that I might know the measure of myself and in the end not be found wanting. I believe that it is my duty to fight and having done all that I can to simply stand against this and all the evil works upon this Earth.

That last line came directly from Ephesians.

By: Jordan H

Jordan H — Wed, 29 May 2019 21:56:47 +0000

Thank you for this. My older brother and Matt were great friends. They sang Good Ridance by Green Day at graduation. He was always there to support everyone around him in whatever they were trying to accomplish. I started reading this while in stand still traffic and had to pull over to catch my breath and the tears that started welling up in my eyes. He was an amazing soul. Thank you again for memorializing this man. He volunteered to do time on the ground because that would get him in a jet where he always wanted to be. He was afraid of nothing and always charged in with faith that what happened was meant to happen. Thank you for making sure he found his way home.

By: Christopher Levy

Christopher Levy — Wed, 25 May 2016 21:26:50 +0000

Really powerful stuff. It’s shocking how backwards we are as a society lifting up morons and rappers while overseeing the real heroes amongst us. Thanks for sharing this Chris. You did good.

By: Michael Rice

Michael Rice — Mon, 25 May 2015 21:44:37 +0000

Matt was on my Embedded Training Team. He was killed as a part of our advon and most of the team was not in country yet. I heard about his death on the morning of our departure. His death effected our team greatly. He was the glue that kept the team together. Nothing would have given us more pleasure than to take the fight back to the Taliban in Kapisa. Unfortunately we were not given the chance as we swapped with a French OMLT in Wardak. I want to thank you for remembering him and for risking your life to bring my brother home.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2015 12:20:15 +0000

Thank you for this amazing tribute. Matt turned me on to so many things. My favorite series of books comes from him letting me borrow a few after I rode my bike some ten miles to hang out with him. That’s the guy I remember… a guy who loved literature. He wasn’t just s soldier, he was a very learned man and a romantic to boot. He was also the truest of nerds, and really inspired me not to be ashamed of my love of stuff like D&D. That’s the kind of thing I remember the most… how he had this way of making the people around him feel more secure. I certainly feel more secure for knowing him, because he never passed judgement on your walk of life or whatever social hangups you had. He would find a way to insist the two of you were equals. That is why he has touched so many lives.

By: omar

omar — Mon, 25 May 2015 03:24:40 +0000

My best friend…A great person from a loving, amazing family….miss him every day. As sad as it is that he’s gone, I know he touched other people’s lives, and for that I am very grateful. I look forward to the day my daughter is old enough to understand the stories I tell her about him. Too many others like him have left too early. I hope people take time this memorial day to think of the families they left behind while serving. RIP Matt. Love you

By: Ian Stephenson

Ian Stephenson — Sun, 24 May 2015 04:11:01 +0000

In reply to Cameron S..

Matt was a close friend. I was not there at the time of his death, but read about it on SIPR the day after while I was in Iraq. If you have time, I’d request that the author shoot me an email at [email protected].

By: Cameron S.

Cameron S. — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:56:35 +0000

Having read about Capt Freeman a few months ago, I have been thinking about him and what you wrote for a while.

You hit the nail on the head…it’s not the Shpee Valley residents that will remember Capt Freeman…it’s you VOLUNTEERS who fought with him that will remember him.

It’s our system of government (as crazy as it is) that makes free people appreciate what they have and then want to FIGHT for it in the places our civilian leaders send us.

We, as a people, may disagree about the “direction” our leaders take us, but we still go…

Every death is a tragedy and a loss of the promise of a young vibrant life, but…we still get volunteers.

I will certainly be remembering Capt Matthew Freeman, in addition to Maj Walter D. Gray every Memorial Day.

Maj Gray was an Air Liaison Officer attached to 4/4 at Jalalabad. I met and spoke with him a few times “out yonder” and he was a genuinely good man…you could tell just by talking with him. I cannot fathom the loss that his family must feel, even two years later.

http://www.examiner.com/article/air-force-maj-walter-gray-killed-by-suicide-bomber.

Thanks Chris…for all you did and still do.

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