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BATAVIA, Ohio - They laid Matt Maupin to rest just over a year ago, but to those who knew him, closure is a relative word. They have moved on with their lives, all of them — Mom and Dad, his siblings, friends and Army buddies. Mom is planning a nice vacation. Dad is fishing more. His younger brother re-enlisted with the Marines. His sister is a mom, again. Soldiers he knew are returning to civilian life, and boyhood friends in Ohio are getting married and having children. But the quest for closure means different things to different people. It’s subjective,...

BAGHDAD — An Al Qaeda in Iraq leader blamed in the 2004 abduction and murder of an Army reservist from Ohio and other deadly attacks over several years was killed in an American raid in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday. U.S. forces acting on a tip carried out the raid Nov. 11 in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, killing Hajji Hammadi and another armed insurgent, the military statement. The Iraqi was accused in the abduction and killing of Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, a 20-year-old private first class who was seized when his fuel convoy was attacked by insurgents in...

CINCINNATI — Military workers and supporters from across the country joined in memorials Sunday for a slain Army reservist who had become a poignant picture of the war in Iraq after he was captured by insurgents. Thousands walked past Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin's casket during a daylong visitation at a civic center in Clermont County, east of Cincinnati, where he grew up. Many of them headed to Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds, for an afternoon memorial service. The crowd occupied the lower portion of the 42,000-seat stadium, behind home plate, stretching from first base to third....

CINCINNATI (AP) - Military workers and supporters from across the country joined in memorials Sunday for a slain Army reservist who had become a poignant picture of the war in Iraq after he was captured by insurgents. Thousands walked past Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin's casket during a daylong visitation at a civic center in Clermont County, east of Cincinnati, where he grew up. Many of them headed to Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds, for an afternoon memorial service. The crowd occupied the lower portion of the 42,000-seat stadium, behind home plate, stretching from first base to...

CINCINNATI (AP) - Thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral of a young Ohio soldier whose remains were found in Iraq last month, four years after he was kidnapped west of Baghdad. Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds, will host the memorial Sunday for Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, who grew up in suburban Batavia. Maupin was honored Saturday by hundreds of mourners who lined the Cincinnati streets with American flags as a police procession led his casket to a memorial service. The 20-year-old was captured April 9, 2004, when insurgents attacked his fuel convoy. The...

CINCINNATI -- A two-day schedule of memorial services for a fallen Clermont County soldier will require military precision to successfully pull off. Sgt. Matt Maupin’s remains will arrive Saturday morning around 8 a.m. at the main runway at Lunken Airport, where his family will spend some private time together on the tarmac. A procession will bear his remains along state Route 32, which has already been decorated with yellow ribbons, through Newtown.

The father of Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin says two of his suspected killers face the death penalty in Iraq. However, Keith Maupin says that is for crimes against the Iraqi people, and not his son's death. Maupin was taken captive outside Baghdad four years ago. His parents went to Washington Thursday for new information on the investigation. According to Keith Maupin, the Pentagon says the military is looking for at least six other suspects. Maupin says the stability provided by last year's troop surge gave a tipster enough confidence to disclose the location of Matt's remains. "There's a lot of...

Army officials have told the parents of Sgt. Matt Maupin that some of the Iraqis believed to be responsible for their son’s capture four years ago are in custody, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday. “I know that there are at least two who are supposed to be put on trial, if they haven’t been already,” Keith Maupin, father of the Ohio soldier, told the Enquirer. Maupin’s remains were found March 20 in Iraq by U.S. soldiers, nearly four years after he was captured in a convoy attack near the Baghdad airport. Keith Maupin and the soldier’s mother, Carolyn Maupin, left...

Having heard talk of "God hates Soldiers" protesting the funeral of hero, Matt Maupin, whose remains have been recently restored to his family, I went to the devil's den at Westboro's website and found confirmation. From Phelps' own website, which I won't link to, because I don't want to give him traffic, comes this gem: Great American Ball Park 100 Main This is for the funeral of Army Staff Sgt. Keith M. Maupin. Thank God for another Dead Soldier! Whoohoo! That is some goodness right there! One item that I noticed only recently comes from Matt's family, and is information...

The parents of a soldier listed as missing-captured in Iraq for nearly four years will continue their work at an organization that has sent thousands of goody packages to soldiers, even though the reality is beginning to sink in that the Army has declared him dead. Keith and Carolyn Maupin and numerous volunteers have sent more than 9,600 boxes of donated toiletries, magazines and treats to soldiers in Iraq through the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, along with photos of Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin and a plea to help find him.

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

EN ROUTE TO COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 31, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today expressed condolences to the family of a soldier whose remains were identified this weekend after he was captured by enemy forces in Iraq four years ago. The remains of Army Staff Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin were positively identified through DNA over the weekend, Army officials announced today. Officials announced no additional details of how Maupin’s remains were found or how he died. “I just wanted to extend my condolences to the Maupin family,” Gates said during a brief meeting with reporters on his way to...

BATAVIA, Ohio — Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin's parents vowed to never let the U.S. Army forget about finding their son.Their efforts included trips to the Pentagon and even meeting with President Bush, but they ended in disappointment Sunday: An Army general told them the remains of Maupin, a soldier who had been listed as missing-captured in Iraq since 2004, had been found. "My heart sinks, but I know they can't hurt him anymore," Keith Maupin said after receiving word about the remains of his son, who went by Matt. The Army didn't say how or where in Iraq his son's...

BATAVIA, Ohio -- The father of a soldier listed as missing-captured in Iraq since 2004 said the military has informed him that his son's remains were found in Iraq. Keith Maupin said an Army general told him Sunday that DNA was used to identify his son. Sgt. Matt Maupin was a 20-year-old private first class when he was captured April 9, 2004, when 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...

(UNION TOWNSHIP, OH) -- Keith Maupin confirmed this afternoon that the remains of his son, Matt Maupin, have been identified by the army in Iraq. In a statement Keith said "We are proud of the continued efforts of the military and the army to return Matt to us. We must now work on efforts to return Matt.' "Please keep the military and our family in your prayers." Carolyn Maupin, Matt's mother said, "Thanks to everyone for their prayers and continued strength of the family." "It hurts after four years of hope and this is what happens it is like a...

Maupin's remains found in Iraq THE ENQUIRER E-mail | Print | digg us! | del.icio.us! | Click-2-Listen Sgt. Matt Maupin is dead, the parents of the missing Clermont County soldier said today. Maupin's remain were found in Iraq, nearly four years after he was captured by insurgents, his parents said. An Army general came to Clermont County today to notify them, they said. "Matt is coming home. He's completed his mission," his father, Keith Maupin, said. The Glen Este High School graduate was taken captive on April 9, 2004, when insurgents overran his convoy. He had been driving a supply...

I am again posting the story on one of our American heroes Army Specialist Ahmed Altaie. I have posted several times in past about Ahmed's case asking for anyone who reads the post to contact their Senators and Congressman to ask for an update on Ahmed's status. This was done in the hope that if there were enough inquires it would elevate the investigation into his whereabouts. To date: no new information has been received or released concerning Ahmed's status since March 15, 2007. Ahmed is a Iraqi American U.S. Army linguist soldier, from Ann-Arbor, Michigan who was kidnapped on...

According to local Cincinnati radio, the Maupin family of Batavia, Ohio, heard that the search for their missing son, PFC Matthew Maupin, is now being considered a search for his remains.

I would like to start a holiday thread for Matt Maupin and his family. We have so many great memories of family during this time of year. I dont want this Buckeye to be forgotten. Please keep it current and bumped. Born on July 13, 1983 in Batavia, Ohio, Maupin was a 3.5 grade-point-average student and football player at Glen Este High School in Union Township, Clermont County, Ohio. He graduated in 2001 and joined the U.S. Army Reserve and was assigned to the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, from Bartonville, Illinois. On April 9, 2004, Maupin's fuel convoy came...

Keith “Matt” Maupin, the only soldier listed as captured in Iraq, has been promoted to staff sergeant, the Army announced Tuesday. Maupin, of the Army Reserve’s 724th Transportation Company in Bartonville, Ill., went missing April 9, 2004, when insurgents attacked his convoy using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Two soldiers and six American civilian truck drivers were killed in the attack outside Baghdad. Maupin was a private first class when he was captured. His 23rd birthday was July 13.