This diary honors one man, but it also shows how his life affected others and how they worked to try to save his. It shows the devotion of a family and the band of brothers who fought beside him and cared for him. Many provided assistance and support to him and to his family. His story is sad, but also gives evidence of our intertwined human and humane relationships across the world.
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition
from Henry V
by William Shakespeare
Corporal Matthew R. Lembke
Corporal Matthew Lembke poses with a puppy he adopted during his first deployment to Haditha, Iraq. The larger original photo can be seen at the site of his hometown paper, The Times.
Some who knew Matt Lembke sometimes called him "Lumpe" a nickname given him in school. They also talked about his zest for life. As a young teen, he was determined to join the military. His parents refused to sign the papers because they wanted him to wait and be sure. Lembke waited, then went to the recruiters to as soon as he was 18. After graduating from Oregon's Tualatin High School in 2005, Matthew Lembke joined the Marines.
He was deployed twice to Iraq and was a squad leader. On his last visit home to Tualatin, Lembke talked about going to college after his stint with the Marines. He was scheduled to be discharged this fall.
He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. In the Spring of 2009, Corporal Lembke was sent to Afghanistan as a highly-trained scout sniper. He joined 1,000 Marines and sailors from Kaneohe Bay, deploying for seven months as part of a surge of troops into troubled regions of Afghanistan. Lembke was assigned to the 2nd Marines Expeditionary Force. He was stationed in the Helmand province. According to The Honolulu Advertiser:
About 1,000 Hawai'i Marines with the 2nd Battalion arrived in Helmand and Farah provinces in late May, part of a surge of 21,000 additional U.S. troops ordered by President Obama into an increasingly restive Afghanistan.
The deployment marked what will likely be a return to steady duty in the country for Kane'ohe Bay's infantry battalions, which for several years had deployed in rotating order to Iraq.
The Marines already have engaged in skirmishes with anti-American forces in the poppy fields, orchards and walled compounds of Helmand province, and fallen victim to the increasing use of roadside bombs.
On June 22th, around midnight, Corporal Lembke was patrolling in the Taliban stronghold of Now Zad. He entered a building and there was an explosion. Lembke was severely wounded by an IED. His buddies helped apply tourniquets and to keep him alive until the medics were able to transport the Corporal to an awaiting helicopter. He stopped breathing in the ambulance, but was revived.
Medics pumped air into his lungs and got him to a military hospital. His heart stopped, but the doctors resuscitated and stabilized him. He was flown to the US Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
His family flew to Germany to be with him. Recently, he was transferred to to the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland where he underwent several more surgeries to combat infection. This was necessary because of the debris associated with his type of blast injuries. He was kept sedated, but had blinked his eyes and squeezed the hands of family members.
Friends launched a web page and created a trust fund for Lembke. Marines recovering from wounds visited the family at the hospital to provide what support they could. The Oregonian quotes Lembke's commander:
First Lt. Joseph Cull, his platoon commander, wrote the family from Afghanistan. He had met Lembke last year when Lembke was one of 50 Marines to try out for a specialized platoon. He was one of seven who passed all examinations, and events, and was selected. Cull wrote that he was 100 miles away, at another position with a different team; when he received the message that Lembke was wounded.
"We had been operating for about 4 days straight, and sleep was short at hand for myself, and other Marines in the platoon. I came back from the radio, with Staff Sergeant Bustamante and we just sat down, silent and very much awake, regardless of fatigue. Soon word spread, our actions where mimicked by others all around, not due to the degree of Matt's wounds, but because of the severity of his character, his bond with others and more importantly the profound respect all within our battalion have for your son's professionalism and solid character.
"You have 26 sons, who are praying for his recovery every day, regardless of what we do, what hostilities are encountered in our day he is with us, in our actions and thoughts."
After a surgery on July 8th, Lembke stated to go downhill and died on the morning of the 10th. He was 22 years old.
The Oregonian site says the Taliban has claimed that it is holding a soldier missing from Lembke's Afghan base since last week. It also states:
The Lembkes had never envisioned raising a Marine. They weren't a military family, and Claudia Lembke says she was pretty much a "basket case" during her son's first deployment to Iraq in 2007. With good reason: One in five from the 2/3 were killed or wounded during that deployment, with 171 wounded and 23 killed. On his second deployment to Iraq in 2008, four more members died, including the commanding officer.
As part of the 2nd Marines, 3rd Regiment, "The Island Warriors," Lembke was based at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. But he always came home to Oregon, driving to Eugene to see friends from the Tualatin class of 2005...
Corporal Matthew Lembke is survived by his parents, Claudia and Dale, of Tualatin; sister, Carolyn Lembke, of Sherwood; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. His family released this statement to The Times:
"We have lost our son and brother too soon. He walked early, talked early and now he has left us early. We have been so blessed to have the support and prayers of so many. We want everyone to know that all of our — and your — prayers have not been in vain; we will always treasure these 15 days that we have been with him, to comfort Matt and each other."
Services for Corporal Matthew R. Lembke will be held at the Resurrection Catholic Parish in Tualatin, Oregon. The Patriot Guard Riders will be providing a flag line and an escort to the cemetery.
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