Andrew G Matus

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CHETEK, WI, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, E CO, 2D BN, 4TH MAR, 1ST MAR DIV, MCB CAMP PENDLETON, CA CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, IRAQ 01/21/2007

Andrew G. Matus’ teachers remembered him as creative and good with his hands. He was named the school’s Technology Education Student of the Year there in 2005.

He’s probably the best mechanic I ever saw, said Richard Manor, his technology education teacher, who called him a perfectionist. If you needed a part, he’d make the parts. He was very talented.

Matus, 19, of Chetek, Wis., was killed Jan. 21 in Anbar province. He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Pendleton.

Hoping to keep his parents from worry, he didn’t tell them he was in Iraq. His sister knew he was there, but he didn’t want anyone else to know, said his grandmother, Virginia Matus. They thought he was on a ship somewhere transporting supplies.

Matus attended gun shows with his father, Gary, where he would buy guns and repair them. Other hobbies included weightlifting, hunting and fishing, said his mother, Donna.

He designed and built furniture and games to raise money for community programs. If anybody ever asked him to do anything, he’d be more than happy to help out, Todd Solberg, his former principal.

Andrew’s portrait is also located on Poster 2