America's Fallen Hero's

CPT. Matthew Freeman, USMC

Matthew Freeman packed more into his 29 years than most people do in a lifetime. As a young boy, he was a “river-rat,” guiding his flat-bottomed, Jon-boat through the winding marshlands of the Ogeechee River in his Richmond Hill, Georgia home.

Matthew’s true passion though, was flying. As a young boy he fell in love with flying and went on to become a Marine pilot – the third generation of Freemans to wear Navy wings.

In 2009, he married his childhood sweetheart, Theresa Hess. Three weeks later, he opted out of the relative safety of the cockpit and volunteered for ground action when he heard the Marines needed more ground forces – in Afghanistan.

The memorial on the Freeman Barracks in Afghanistan reads:

"Capt. Matthew Freeman was a C-130 Hercules pilot. He volunteered for an individual augmentee position with 4th Marines embedded training team and deployed to Afghanistan on 23 July. On 7 August, Captain Freeman was conducting operations with 1st Battalion , 3rd Brigade, 201st Corps, Afghan National Army. Captain Freeman was engaged in Operation Brest Thunder in one of the most dangerous regions within the 201st Corps area of operations when his team came under heavy enemy fire. He led his men to a building where they could locate a better firing position and was the first to reach the roof, killing a Taliban insurgent attempting to shoot a rocket propelled grenade at his team. While continuing to engage insurgents, Capt. Freeman was mortally wounded in the ensuing exchange of fire. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Combat "V" posthumously for his actions. He graduate in 2002 from the United States Naval Academy and is laid to rest in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium."

He left a wonderful gift to his family with his last journal entry.

Mom, Dad, I can never repay you for all you have done for me. You made me into the man I am today. I hope that I have made you proud. That has always been my goal. I love you both so much. Tell the girls that I love them and couldn’t be a prouder older brother. I have always tried to be an honorable man and I truly believe in what we are doing here. I am doing this for my family; so that they need not fear, My country, so that it can be a beacon of light for the entire world; the men around me, because no one could ask for a more august company than the men of the US Armed Forces and finally I do this for myself so that I might know the measure of myself and in the end not be found wanting. I believe that it is my duty to fight and having done all that I can to simply stand against this and all the evil works upon this Earth.