The legacy of a fallen Marine, and how his Mom channels her loss

This is a sad and yet beautiful story.  One place to start is with Matthew Freeman’s final diary 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.

I love what he says here, because almost to a man this was the feelings expressed by the guys I served with.  We were where we needed to be.  Not where we wanted to be neccessarily, but where we needed to be.

Matt grew up in Richmond Hill, Georgia, became an Eagle Scout, loved reading Shakespeare and playing Tennis.  He was accepted and enrolled at the US Naval Academy, and upon graduation became a Marine Officer.  On his website bio it states

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.

At the age of 29, while conducting combat operations in Kapisa province, Afghanistan, Matthew Freeman would be killed in action.

Flash forward now to a seemingly unrelated story out of Poland:

 A newborn baby in Poland carries the name of a hero soldier from Staten Island who died two years ago saving the life of the infant’s father.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, 24, a lifelong resident of New Dorp, sacrificed his life on Aug. 28, 2013, while shielding Lt. Karol Cierpica from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Newborn baby Michael Cierpica lies with a teddy bear made from the Army fatigues of Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, the soldier from New Dorp who sacrificed his life saving the infant’s father during an attack in Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy of Ollis family)

 

 Earlier this month, the Polish soldier became the proud father of a baby boy he named in honor of Ollis.

Robert Ollis and his wife, Linda, called the tribute to their son “unexpected” and “wonderful.”

“I thought of the baby as a grandson,” Ollis Sr. said “We are very happy and honored.”

To thank Cierpica and his wife, the Ollis family sent the couple a teddy bear they had specially made out of their son’s Army fatigues.

Now, the reason these two stories are related is because of Matthew Freeman’s Mom, Lisa, who to honor her son, and the sons, daughters and siblings of our fallen heroes has been making these bears (in fact her nonprofit made the very one pictured above with the Polish baby) and raising funds for scholarships of siblings who have suffered loss.  

Anyway, it came to my attention yesterday because of an article in Stars and Stripes:

 

Friends and family recall how Matthew Freeman always tried to help others. It’s been more than six years since the Marine captain fell in combat, but that legacy lives on through those who serve in his name.

 

A C-130 pilot who didn’t have to pick up a rifle and fight, Freeman volunteered for the ground force when the call came for more troops. The 29-year-old died bravely leading his men onto an Afghan rooftop during an intense firefight with the Taliban on Aug. 7, 2009.

 

The Matthew Freeman Project started inauspiciously at his direction shortly before his death when he requested school supplies for Afghan children. The nonprofit continued after he was gone, and when ensuring the delivery of supplies became impossible, it focused on college scholarships for the oft-overlooked casualties of war, Gold Star siblings and the siblings of combat-related suicide victims.

 

The project didn’t stop there: mother Lisa Freeman and a small army of craftsmen began sewing “Matthew Bears” for the children of fallen servicemembers, using their uniforms as material.

 

“Even as a kid he was always looking to help,” Lisa Freeman said. “He always believed he could make a difference.”

I’m not going to steal any more of Stripes story, because you should go read the whole thing for yourself.  YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT BY CLICKING HERE.

As luck would have it, my wife and the wife of my battle buddy from Afghanistan were pregnant at the same time, right when the story came out about the Polish baby, and the story really touched me deeply, because my battle buddy and I had served on the very same FOB where Michael Ollis had saved Karol Cierpica, FOB Ghazni.  And my awesome mother in law graciously offered to not just make one for my new born, but also for my battle buddy.  Now 8 months old my daughter mostly just gnaws on his ear, but as she gets older I hope to explain to her what the bear is made of, and why Daddy had to go far away to stop people from hurting other people.  And when I read yesterday the words that Matthew Freeman wrote I thought that that was exactly what I felt, even if I couldn’t express it as well as Matthew.

But, if you are interested in making bears for other families who have lost loved ones, or if you just want to send Mrs. Freeman a nice email to support her, you should definitely go to the website for more info.  I emailed with Lisa yesterday, and she’s just an absolute wonderful lady, and took time out of her busy day to email back and forth with me for quite a while.

So again, if you know how to sew, and you have some extra time in your day, maybe you could help out the project,

For more information on The Matthew Freeman Project, how to donate or to request a Matthew Bear, visit www.freemanproject.org or https://www.facebook.com/TheMatthewFreemanProject/

[NOTE:  The bears at the top of this blog posting are the ones that my mother in law made for my baby and that of my battle buddy.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cross-posted from paying gig.

Category: Politics