Lance Cpl. John J.
Mattek, USMC
The Department of Defense announced on June 143
the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr., 24, of Stevens Point, Wis., died June 13 from wounds received as a
result of an explosion while conducting combat operations
against enemy forces in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on June 8. He was assigned to the 2nd Light
Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team-2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
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Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune -- DEERBROOK -- The last
time Lance Cpl. John J. Mattek Jr. called home from Iraq,
he was upbeat, excited - and a little antsy. "He was very
frustrated at that time," said his mother, Marsha Mattek,
recalling the May 31 conversation.
"He'd been up for 20 hours, working on equipment.
And his words were, 'I can't
wait to get this done and get back out in the field." To
friends and family,
that was Johnny. He was the kid who once got a concussion after
being told
repeatedly not to ride his bike on rock mounds in the family
driveway - then
doing it anyway. He was the teen who strung a line of rope
across the creek
running through the Mattek backyard, wanting to pull himself
from bank to bank
above the shallow water. His father, John Mattek Sr., recalled telling his son
that he'd be seriously hurt if he fell. His response?
"That's why I can't
fall in." He didn't. And Johnny was the adult who, after the
attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, felt so compelled to do something that he
joined the U.S.
Marine Corps. Tuesday, he was the son and brother who brought
laughs and tears
to the faces of his family as they recalled the life of the
24-year-old Marine
at the Matteks' Deerbrook home. Mattek, a former University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student-athlete and 1999 graduate of
Antigo High School,
died early Monday of injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded during
combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq June 8. He'd been in Iraq about
three months. "The biggest thing I would like people to know
about our
son and brother is he truly, in every sense of the word, was
an extraordinary
young man," Marsha Mattek said. "The word that always described
him was he was
the toughest individual I ever met. To me, that also means he
was tough
mentally, he was tough physically, he was tough emotionally.
That's what made
him not only the type of Marine that he was, but individual he
was." But for
all his spirit, toughness and determination, his family also
remembered Mattek
as a kind person, the type who never had a mean word to say
about anyone. To his
nephew, 5-year-old Bryce Devore, he was "Uncle Maverick" to Bryce's Iceman. To
Marsha Mattek, he was a child who could make her laugh and forget why she ever
got mad at him in the first place. To Mattek's younger siblings, 16-year-old
Matt and 18-year-old Jill, he was the older brother who taught them never to
give up. Jill Mattek smiled tearfully, recalling the mantra her older brother
had taught her. "Good, better, best, never let it rest," she
said. "Until
your good is better, until you're better's best." Jill Mattek and older
sister Katie Devore, 26, stayed in Deerbrook following Mattek's injury while
John Sr., Marsha and Matt flew to Maryland, where John Mattek Jr. had been taken
after being flown from Iraq and then Germany. They were with him when he died.
The family hopes to establish a memorial fund in Mattek's name, the money
from which would go to support families like themselves who have to cope with
travel and hospital stays when a loved one is injured at war. The support they
received while in Maryland was incredible, Marsha Mattek said. Funeral
services for Mattek have not yet been set. Back home, reminders of Mattek
are everywhere - the Marine flag flying just below the U.S. banner in the front
yard, photos of him in the football uniforms of Antigo High School and UWSP.
Even 16-year-old Matt's boxer puppy, Rocket, pays homage to his big brother -
the dog was named for the crotch-rocket motorcycle Mattek used to talk about
getting. "Anything you look at just reminds you of him, of what he left
behind," Jill Mattek said. But for all the ways Mattek seemed to attract
people and excitement, the posthumous attention he's received wouldn't be
Johnny's style, said John Mattek, Sr. He attracted attention but never asked for
it; no matter what, his son was humble. For better or worse, the family
said, it's some of Mattek's qualities they'll miss most that also are helping
them to cope with his death. "We're going to get through this because of
what he taught us," Marsha Mattek said. "Because of how we watched everything he
did. He never complained - he was not a 'self' person. He was a selfless person.
... His toughness is not just the 'tough man' part. It's the way he handled
himself in life. He had a combination of great toughness and great
softness." When Mattek left for Iraq, he left a letter sealed with black
tape, telling his family they'd know when the time was right to open it. If he
returned, he said, he expected to have the letter back
unopened. Returning from Maryland late Monday, the Matteks opened their
son's letter. It detailed his love for service, then ended with a quotation that
perhaps best summed up his approach to life. "Every man dies, but not
every man truly lives," he wrote. "I have lived."
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