An organ played as mourners streamed down the aisles of an Annapolis church yesterday toward the flag-draped coffin holding the body of Army Spc. Micheal Benson Matlock Jr.
Specialist Matlock, less than three years out of Glen Burnie High School, died last week in Iraq. Yesterday, he was remembered for his devotion to both the high school sweetheart he married barely a year ago and their baby boy - and for the bravery that enabled him to sign on for battle.
"It takes courage to do what he did. Nobody joins the Army during wartime," said the Rev. Kaipha Downs, who delivered the eulogy, and who had known the soldier since he was a young boy.
"Mike did," she said, to rousing applause from hundreds at the service at the First Christian Community Church.
Specialist Matlock, a 2005 graduate of Glen Burnie High, enlisted in the Army in 2006 and arrived in Fort Campbell, Ky., four months later. Shortly afterward, he shipped out to Iraq as a member of a combat team responsible for security in the northwest part of the Iraqi capital.
Specialist Matlock was an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division. He had been in Iraq before, returning from a deployment to south Baghdad in September 2006.
He married the former Breon Summers, who was his high school sweetheart, about a year ago. They have a son, Byron J. Matlock, 1.
This month, according to a military publication, soldiers in Specialist Matlock's company captured a suspected Iranian-trained "special groups" criminal cell leader in Baghdad.
Specialist Matlock died Feb. 20 from wounds suffered when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Baghdad. Two other soldiers were killed in the attack.
He was 21.
Cheryl Timmons, an aunt of the soldier, read a letter that Breon Matlock wrote to her husband after his death.
After their first date, his wife wrote, "From then on it was us."
"You said, `If we love each other we can make it work.' ... I remember the look on your face when I told you would be a father. Your eyes brightened up."
And during their last conversation, the day before he died at 6:15 p.m., the two discussed plans to visit Hawaii, before their call was disconnected.
"You told me you wanted to take me and Byron around the world. ... Baby, I love you so much. You are my heart forever."
Specialist Matlock's sister, Tiffany Matlock, read a poem she had written to her brother, reminiscing about their shared jokes and late-night talks over "Whoppers and Cokes," and freestyle rapping over homemade beats.
