Matthew W. Creed

Matthew W. Creed

HHC 1-22 Infantry

4th Infantry Division (Mechanized)

KIA October 22, 2006

Local soldier killed in Iraq
Covina man dreamed of becoming a police officer
By Phil Drake Staff Writer

Matthew Creed COVINA - Army Spc. Matthew Creed called his mother about 11:30 a.m. Saturday,
excited that within 45 days he would be out of Iraq and stationed back in the United States.

He was making plans, one of which was to buy his first new vehicle.

"I am coming home," his mother, Kimberly, 45, recalled him saying. "He was real excited about that.

"One of the last things he said to me was `I love you mom.' I told him to be careful."

He promised he would.

The next day, the 2001 Charter Oak High School graduate was killed by a sniper's bullet in Baghdad while on foot patrol.

He was 23.

Creed was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

As of Wednesday, at least 2,804 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003,
according to an Associated Press count. Creed was the 19th person from the San Gabriel Valley to die in the war.

Matthew Creed had been in the military since 2003, his father, Richard, 47, said Wednesday
in a telephone interview from the Rancho Cucamonga home they have lived in for two months.

He wanted to become a police officer, and interviewed with the Covina Police Department.
He learned he was not qualified and someone suggested he go into the military to gain experience, Richard Creed said.
Matthew was friends with Scott Hanson, the Covina police sergeant who died in July from injuries he suffered during a 2003 vehicle crash.

Family members said the friendship had "a good effect on Matt."

Matthew Creed had a job making sandwiches at Blimpie's in San Dimas when he decided to join the Army.

He was was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., for boot camp, followed by a year in Korea. After that, he was offered an assignment in Washington, D.C.,
but asked to be sent to a combat unit so that he could perform the duties that he had been trained for, Richard Creed said.

Richard Creed said one of Matthew's nephews may have pegged him best:

"He sometimes made bad decisions but whatever he did he went 100 mph and never looked back. But he always ended up doing a good job."

They remember when he was 4 or 5 and had been watching a television show about paramedics.

Later, they found him in the back yard. He was wearing his fire helmet and doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his teddy bear.

Other than his parents, Matthew is survived by his wife, Ashley, and brother, James, 19.

Services are pending, his parents said, but added they would likely be at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Covina.

Matthew Creed signed his leave papers on Saturday and would have been out of Iraq by December. He was also getting a month's vacation.

He called his mom to tell her the good news.

After 40 minutes he had to hang up.

He had to go to work.

phil.drake@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2110

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

http://sgvtribune.com/

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Service honors soldier beloved for joy
War casualty remembered as hero to many
Phil Drake, Staff Writer
Article Launched:11/05/2006 01:53:34 AM PST

COVINA -- The Rev. Judith Heffron needed a little help from her dictionary Saturday when talking about Matthew Creed.
She said Webster's defines heroes as being mythical and having super powers.

"That certainly fits our Matthew," she told nearly 350 people gathered at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Covina
for the funeral services for the 23-year-old Army corporal killed Oct. 22 by a sniper's bullet in Baghdad.

"Today we come to celebrate a hero's homecoming," she said. "Matthew had a hero's heart."

As of Friday, at least 2,828 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

In a service filled with military tradition, Creed was remembered as a fun-loving and somewhat mischievous kid.

"Matt would love all this attention," his father, Rick Creed of Rancho Cucamonga, said, adding his son's reaction would be: "Yeah, this is all about me."

Rick Creed said his son truly enjoyed life and smiled as he talked about Matthew shooting staples at co-workers.

Heffron shared a memory of Creed as a "knobby-kneed kid playing tricks on his friends" during church overnight youth events.

But "He would do the job that needed to done with a glad and willing heart."

Creed graduated from Charter Oak High School in Covina in 2001. He had hopes of becoming a police officer
but was told to get some experience in the military. He enlisted in 2003.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, in Fort Hood, Texas.

He turned down an offer to be stationed in Washington, D.C., and asked to go to Iraq, Army officials said.

The military initially said Creed was an Army specialist. But on Saturday, officials said he had achieved the rank of corporal.
The paperwork for his promotion had been in process before he was killed in Iraq.

"He was working hard to be a corporal," Sgt. 1st Class Franklin Spencer said. "He wanted to be (a noncommissioned officer)."

Creed is also survived by his wife, Ashley; his mother, Kimberly; and his brother, James.
The Creeds were longtime Covina residents but recently moved to Rancho Cucamonga.

The lengthy funeral procession from the church to Forest Lawn Memorial Parks in Covina Hills, included 90 motorcycles
from the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists who attend the funeral services of "fallen American heroes,"
and several vehicles from the Covina Police Department.

Graveside services included a rifle salute and presentation of the flag and medals to the family.

Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered flags at the state Capitol to be flown at half-staff in Creed's honor.

Heffron said she was in the procession of vehicles that brought the body to Forest Lawn.

She said as they drove up the cemetery grounds, the Covina Police Department had cars parked along the entryway.
The vehicle lights were on, and an officer stood at full military salute stood by each car.

"It was an appropriate homecoming," she said.

San Bernadino County Sun

http://www.sbsun.com

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