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LCpl. Andrew Matus

(reprinted from JSOnline.com, January 22, 2007)

State Marine killed in Iraq

Weyerhaeuser native joined service at 17

A Weyerhaeuser native who decided at age 12 that he wanted to be a Marine and who enlisted on his 17th birthday has become the 69th Wisconsin service member killed in Iraq, his family said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Andrew Gary Matus, 19, a May 2005 graduate of Weyerhaeuser High School who was stationed in Anbar province, died early Sunday when he was shot, said his mother, Donna Matus.

The Defense Department had not confirmed Matus' death as of Monday night.

Matus played football in his sophomore year and enjoyed weightlifting, mechanics, hunting and fishing, his mother said.

He was named technology education student of the year in 2005.

"He was just very creative with his hands," his mother said.

"He liked to make things. If something broke down, he would make a part for it. If an engine broke down, he would put it back together."

Richard Manor, a technology instructor at the school, said Matus could build gunstocks from scratch and quickly solve any mechanical exercises presented to him.

"He could fix anything I would give him," Manor said. "An old lawn mower, outboard engine, he could have it running in 15 minutes.

"He could make any kind of a part for any piece of machinery."

Donna Matus said her son started deer hunting at age 12 with his father, Gary, and collected the antlers from each buck he bagged.

He used both a rifle and a bow to bag deer and would hunt for rabbits and squirrels, she said. He also enjoyed fishing on Potato Lake and Two Bears Lake, she said.

Matus is the second Wisconsin service member killed in Iraq this month. Army Spc. Matthew Tyler Grimm, 21, of Wisconsin Rapids died Jan. 15 in Mosul when a bomb went off near the vehicle in which he was traveling.