4 years later: kidnapped soldier's remains found in Iraq

[Vympel]

Link

Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin's parents vowed to never let the U.S. Army forget about finding their son.

Their efforts included trips to the Pentagon and even meeting with President Bush, but they ended in disappointment Sunday: An Army general told them the remains of Maupin, a soldier who had been listed as missing-captured in Iraq since 2004, had been found.

"My heart sinks, but I know they can't hurt him anymore," Keith Maupin said after receiving word about the remains of his son, who went by Matt.

The Army didn't say how or where in Iraq his son's remains were discovered, only that the identification was made with DNA testing, Maupin said. A shirt similar to the one his son was wearing at the time of his disappearance was also found.

The Army was continuing its investigation, Maupin said.

Lt. Lee Packnett, an Army public affairs officer in Washington, said an official statement about the identification would be released Monday.

Matt Maupin was a 20-year-old private first class when he was captured April 9, 2004, after his fuel convoy, part of the Bartonville, Ill.-based 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad.

A week later, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing a stunned-looking Maupin wearing camouflage and a floppy desert hat, sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark and grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and not the execution.

The Maupins refused to believe their son was dead. They lobbied hard for the Army to continue listing him as missing-captured, fearing that another designation would undermine efforts to find him.

The Pentagon agreed to give the Maupins regular briefings, and Bush met with them when he traveled to Cincinnati.

Keith Maupin said the Army told him soon after his son's capture that there was only a 50 percent chance he would be found alive. He said he doesn't hold the Army responsible for his son's death, but that he did hold the Army responsible for bringing his son home.

"I told them when we'd go up to the Pentagon, whether he walks off a plane or is carried off, you're not going to leave him in Iraq like you did those guys in Vietnam," Maupin said.

Keith Maupin and his ex-wife, Carolyn, held a candlelight vigil Sunday night outside the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Batavia, an office they used to package thousands of boxes of donated snacks and toiletries for shipment to soldiers in Iraq.

"It hurts," Carolyn Maupin said. "After you go through almost four years of hope, and this is what happens, it's like a letdown, so I'm trying to get through that right now."

The Maupins were told by an Army official on Friday to expect an update on their son over the weekend, Keith Maupin said. The Army broke the news about their son's remains at a somber meeting.

"When you look out there in the parking lot and see a three-star general get out of a car, you know it ain't good news," Keith Maupin said.

Matt Maupin graduated from Glen Este High School, just east of Cincinnati, in 2001 and attended the University of Cincinnati for a year before joining the Army Reserves.

Dan Simmons, the athletic director at Glen Este, remembered him as a quiet but hardworking backup player on the school's football team.

"Matt was a selfless kid on the football field," Simmons said. "He did whatever the coaches told him. He wasn't a starter, but he made the other kids play harder."

A month after his capture, Maupin was promoted to the rank of specialist. In April 2005, he was promoted to sergeant.

His status as MIA has now been taken off icasualties.org.

[MKSheppard]

poor guy; I remember seeing posters about him at the Vietnam Veterans memorial stalls.

[cosmicalstorm]

Poor guy, only 20 years old, I hope it was painless

[Vympel]

Poor guy, only 20 years old, I hope it was painless

If the alleged video of him being shot was real, I imagine it was as painless as he could hope for in the circumstances.

I pity the parents- four years of hoping that a 50/50 chance comes out their way.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Well, he was promoted repeatedly during his absence. That's gratitude for his sacrifice, isn't it?

[Vympel]

Well, he was promoted repeatedly during his absence. That's gratitude for his sacrifice, isn't it?

As I understand it, it's more than symbolic - his higher rank ensures his family gets greater benefits now that he's officially been found dead, as I understand it? Anyone in the military know?

If so, it's not much, but what else can the military do?

[Coyote]

That's what I've been given to understand as well. Higher rank = higher benefits for survivors.

Also, I believe that keeping someone listed as MIA (Missing in Action) until there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary means that they are still considered to be "on duty" (serving their "duty" in an enemy prison camp, basically) and so the family still gets paid his salary. If they still do it this way, that means that his family back home as been getting larger paychecks for his service with not only promotions, but years-in-service seniority.

It's a small comfort, to be sure, and in a way knowing for sure one way or another is the catharsis needed to move on... but it helps the family in the meantime...


[EDIT: "Higher benefits for survivors" I should clarify: I'm talking about the monthly paychecks for a person in MIA. The final, known-death payout made by SGLI (Serviceman's Group Life Insurance) will be about the same for all ranks, regardless; depending only on how much coverage the servivemember signed up for. Minimum is $100,000.00, the maximum is $400,000.00]

[General Deathdealer]

Should be 400K since to take a lower amount you have to put in your reasoning behind it. Even then you chain of command will try and talk you into getting the full 400K. But even then the 400K is only a few more dollars a month out of your pay check. Life insurance in the military is not very expensive considering the danger of our profession.

[Edward Yee]

I believe that keeping someone listed as MIA (Missing in Action) until there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary means that they are still considered to be "on duty" (serving their "duty" in an enemy prison camp, basically) and so the family still gets paid his salary.

Wasn't this somewhat accurately done on The Unit? Sgt. Maj. Jonas Blane staged a fake kidnapping so that while he went AWOL, he would be consideredd MIA and his wife would receive his pay.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Poor guy, only 20 years old, I hope it was painless :(

If the alleged video of him being shot was real, I imagine it was as painless as he could hope for in the circumstances.

I pity the parents- four years of hoping that a 50/50 chance comes out their way.

We may hope so. Most of the executions were horrifyingly slow and brutal in comparison, after all.

[ArmorPierce]

Saw a couple of the beheading videos, like that reporter. Was pretty gruesome, you can hear him making some noise and then gagging on his blood as his head was half way hacked off. That must be a downright horrifying way to go.