Corporal Matthew A. Commons served our nation under Operation Anaconda during the beginning of the War in Afghanistan to help the U.S. military destroy Taliban and al-Qaeda forces after the 9/11 attack. On March 4, 2002, Matthew, who recently turned 21, lost his life in combat during a rescue mission in the Battle of Takur Ghar.
AHS government teacher Gregory Commons is the father of Matthew, and gave Serving Your Country and Community seminars during the entire school day on both Feb. 28 and March 1, to not only honor his son by sharing his story, but to remind students about the importance of providing service to their community. He has been giving this presentation since the 2003-2004 school year.
“As I was raised, my father taught me the importance of serving my community and that was something that I demonstrated and shared with my own kids,” Commons said. “Of course serving our nation in combat is one way to demonstrate this and my family history reflects that.”
Commons served in the marines during the Vietnam War and Matthew followed his family’s military footsteps and enlisted in the army in 2000. Then in 2002, Matthew was sent to retrieve the body of a Navy SEAL, as a part of a helicopter rescue team. The helicopter was hit by a grenade, and Matthew was shot on his way out. As a result seven men were killed, including Matthew. On March 11, 2002, the memorial service was held and Matthew was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, where Commons ended up meeting President Bush.
“The reason why I give this presentation is because I want to honor these seven men and give something back to them,” Commons said. “It’s a hard thing to do, but sometimes serving your community comes at a high price.”
During the presentation, Commons showed multiple videos, one of them being an NBC Dateline special with footage from the helicopter crash and an interview with a survivor from the platoon. Another one of the videos was a memorial video that had pictures of Matthew as well as the other men who died in the helicopter attack. Commons also read a portion of a letter he received from one of the platoon survivors describing his admiration for Matthew and had a display table filled with memorabilia of his son.
Many of the students who attended the presentation were grieving, but they found the seminar to be inspirational and were left increasingly grateful for the men and women who risk their lives for our nation.
“The seminar was really sad and informative,” senior Jenifer Lemus said. “It made me appreciate the soldiers in the army and their families more.”
“Seeing this has made me more appreciative when I’m doing my community service,” senior Ashlly Boger said. “It’s a strong reminder that I can never forget the service completed that keeps myself as well as everyone else safe and free.”
Class of 2010 alumnus and Private Second Class Jeff Huynh has been an active member in the army for the past year and a half. He currently resides in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington and is expecting to be deployed later this year.
“I am proud to be a part of the less than 1% percent involved in the military,” Huynh said. “My whole family has been in the military and I am keeping the tradition going strong. I am willing to risk my life to keep my nation safe.”
