Sgt. Maupin, Still Missing

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MrsSpringsteen

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Carolyn and Keith Maupin walked into the Pentagon Friday hoping for any new bits of information about their son, who was captured by insurgents near Baghdad more than 18 months ago.

They left after more than two hours, saying defense officials assured them the military is continuing to search for Army Reserve Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin. But they got no definitive answer to the question that haunts them most: Is he still alive?

"Even though you see a smile, your heart still aches," Carolyn Maupin told a reporter after the meeting, as she and her husband visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, both wearing pins bearing a photo of their son.

Surrounded by journalists and escorted by two Army officials, Keith Maupin -- wearing a POW-MIA hat -- said he believes "they'll find something soon. They'll find him." He said he and his wife went to the somber Vietnam Wall because, "There are 50,000 names on that wall, and I just wanted to say thanks."

The Maupins met with Lt. Gen. James L. Campbell, the Director of the Army Staff, as well as officials from the Casualty Assistance Office and the Joint Personnel Recovery Office. They also had a video conference call with senior officers in Iraq, including officials from U.S. Central Command.

Asked whether they learned anything new, they said nothing.

"We will not discuss the specifics of the update because it is an ongoing operation and saying anything could be detrimental to Matt's safe return and the safety of those involved in the search," they said in a written statement.

The statement continued, "It has been more than 18 months since he was captured, and we pray every day for him and the soldiers who continue to search for him. We ask the American people to do the same."

Army officials said Friday that Sgt. Maupin's status remains unchanged, and he is still considered captured. He is the only soldier who is missing or currently considered captured in the Iraq War.

The officials who met with the Maupins were expected to provide the family with more details of the ongoing search for their son, including reports that a Fort Drum, N.Y.-based Army unit spent seven hours Saturday searching for his body in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad.

The Batavia, Ohio, soldier has been missing since April 9, 2004, when his fuel truck convoy was ambushed by insurgents west of Baghdad after leaving camp. He was 20 at the time.

A week later, Arab television network Al-Jazeera released a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera released another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark and grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and did not show the actual shooting. The Army ruled it was inconclusive.

The Maupins said Friday's meeting -- which also included a private lunch in the Pentagon -- was helpful, and showed the Army is following leads on their son's whereabouts.

And it seems other Ohio residents are also following the progress. As the Maupins walked near the Vietnam Memorial, they were greeted by Jeffrey and Courtney Neal, who were visiting Washington, D.C., from Harrison, Ohio.

"We're praying for you guys, hang in there," Jeffrey Neal told the Maupins, as the couples embraced.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
story.maupin.jpg


And it seems other Ohio residents are also following the progress. As the Maupins walked near the Vietnam Memorial, they were greeted by Jeffrey and Courtney Neal, who were visiting Washington, D.C., from Harrison, Ohio.

"We're praying for you guys, hang in there," Jeffrey Neal told the Maupins, as the couples embraced.

Until I moved a couple of months ago I used to shop at the Sam's Club where Maupin had worked. In that store, by the exit, they have a table set up with his picture and info about him. And various business also have messages of support for him and his family. Constant reminders all over.

Very very sad.
 
A sad ending to the story, but at least now the family knows. :(

BATAVIA, Ohio - The father of a soldier listed as missing-captured in Iraq since 2004 said Sunday that the military had informed him that his son's remains had been found.

Keith Maupin said an Army general told him DNA testing had identified the remains of his son, Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, or "Matt" as he was commonly known. He said the Army didn't say how or where in Iraq his son's remains were discovered, only that officials found a shirt similar to the one his son was wearing at the time of his disappearance.

"My heart sinks, but I know they can't hurt him anymore," Maupin said, speaking in the soldier's hometown near suburban Cincinnati.

The Army was continuing its investigation, he said.

Lt. Lee Packnett, an Army public affairs officer in Washington, confirmed that the Maupins were notified Sunday that their son's remains had been identified. Packnett said an official statement about the identification would be released Monday.

Matt Maupin was a 20-year-old private first class when he was captured April 9, 2004, after his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad.

A week later, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark and grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and not the actual shooting.

The Maupins refused to believe it was their son, and the Army had listed him as missing-captured. The Maupins lobbied hard for the Army to continue listing their son as missing-captured, fearing that another designation would undermine efforts to find him.

Keith Maupin said the Army told him early on that there was only a 50 percent chance his son would be found alive. He said he doesn't hold the Army responsible for his son's death, but that he did hold the Army responsible for bringing his son home.

"I told them when we'd go up to the Pentagon, whether he walks off a plane or is carried off, you're not going to leave him in Iraq like you did those guys in Vietnam," Maupin said.

Keith Maupin and his ex-wife, Carolyn, held a candlelight vigil Sunday night outside the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Batavia, an office they used to package thousands of boxes of donated snacks and toiletries for shipment to soldiers in Iraq.

"It hurts," Carolyn Maupin said of her son's death. "After you go through almost four years of hope, and this is what happens, it's like a let down, so I'm trying to get through that right now."

Two U.S. soldiers remain missing in action in Iraq. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, a 41-year-old Iraqi-born reserve soldier from Ann Arbor, Mich., was abducted while visiting his Iraqi wife on Oct. 23, 2006, in Baghdad. Capt. Michael Speicher, a Navy pilot, has been missing since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Matt Maupin graduated from Glen Este High School, just east of Cincinnati, in 2001 and attended the University of Cincinnati for a year before joining the Army Reserves.

Dan Simmons, the athletic director at Glen Este, remembered Maupin as a quiet but hardworking backup player on the school's football team.

"Matt was a selfless kid on the football field," Simmons said. "He did whatever the coaches told him. He wasn't a starter, but he made the other kids play harder."

A month after his capture, Maupin was promoted to the rank of specialist. In April 2005, he was promoted to sergeant.
 
RIP

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Three U.S. troops remain missing in the five-year-old Iraq war: Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez have been missing since their military convoy was raided west of Mahmoudiya May 12.

Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie disappeared October 23, 2006, and his status was changed to "missing-captured" nearly two months later.
 
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