In Memoriam

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HM2 Matthew Conte

(reprinted from BeaconJournal.com, February 3, 2007)

Streetsboro sailor killed in Iraq war
 

The story of a life too short is played out in message after message on the Web site MySpace.

``Matthew, you're the best Corpsman ever....

``Seems like just yesterday you were putting the Spiderman Band-aid on my eyebrow. Thanks for taking me into the platoon and i'll never forget the times we had. Keep watch over us and I look forward to seeing you soon... but not too soon. Love ya man. -- Johnny.''

``Conte, I can't believe you're gone; even with your death you helped us save 2 Marines lives with the knowledge you passed to us. I'll never forget you man. -- Ray.''

``To the many nights of being woken up... to hear your voice on the other end of the phone. I know it was only suppose to be a 7 minute phone call but somehow we always managed to talk for about ½ hour. To the one who always accepted me for who I was,... who continued to encourage me to be what I want to be, to the one who had the patience to teach me how to properly skip rocks at the lake... I want to thank you for your love, encouragement and kindness. I love you. -- Danita.

The language from the Department of Defense was decidedly different:

The Pentagon on Friday announced the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hospitalman Matthew G. Conte, 22, of Streetsboro died Thursday while his unit was conducting combat operations in Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province west of Baghdad.

Conte was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, as a hospital corpsman in Iraq under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force.

A notice on the MySpace Web site from a family member said Matthew was killed instantly while wearing all his body armor.

On MySpace, Conte is just a kid, a young man in civvies -- single, athletic, 5-foot-11, Aries -- who says he hopes to have children someday.

``Only a few people reading this will know who he is, but even if you don't, please say a prayer for him and also for gunnery sergeant Elliot (Terry J. Elliott, 34, Middleton, Tenn.) who also passed in the explosion. Watch over us Conte and I love you man! -- Johnny.''

Services will be held at Dunn-Quigley Ciriello & Carr funeral home in Stow, with details to come in newspaper notices, according to a posting by the family on the Web site.

A spokesman at the Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center on Dan Street in Akron said Friday night that Conte's family moved out of Ohio last year.

``Matt planned on working in a hospital when he got out,'' sister Lora wrote on MySpace.

``Please feel free to send any pictures and post any comments, stories or memories.''

The Web site address is www.myspace.com/killercorpsman.