Cpl. Matthew Henderson, U.S.M.C (KIA)

Lincoln Marine Remembered

Hundreds attend funeral

More than 800 people gathered Thursday for the funeral of Marine Cpl. Matthew Henderson. The Lincoln man was killed in Iraq on May 26th.

Matthew's father, Owen Henderson, stood before the congregation at First Plymouth Congregational Church and spoke about his son, whose American flag-draped coffin sat a few feet away in front of the altar, surrounded by red, white and blue flowers.

Owen Henderson said his son loved his wife, family and also his golden retriever Rocket, who died when Henderson was in Iraq. The elder Henderson said the first time he smiled after learning of his son's death was "when I finally realized that Rocket was there waiting for Matt to come."

After his comments, he stood in front of his son's coffin and saluted, with a Marine Corps member standing beside him.

Cpl. Henderson was killed along with another Nebraskan, Lance Cpl. Kyle Codner,19, of Shelton, while they were clearing roads of explosive devices.

During the service, Marine Corps members presented Matthew Henderson's widow Jaimie with a Purple Heart for the wounds resulting in her husband's death. The soldiers stood in front of her, opened the certificate and the box holding the Purple Heart, handed it to her and saluted.

Henderson joined the Marines in September 2000 after spending two years at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He graduated from Palmyra High School in 1998.