Army Sgt. Marcus C. Mathes

Died April 28, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Zephyrhills, Fla.; assigned to the 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Polk, La.; died April 28 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his forward operating base with indirect fire. Also killed were Pfc. Adam L. Marion and Sgt. Mark A. Stone.

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Army Sgt. Marcus C. Mathes remembered

The Associated Press

Marcus C. Mathes loved hiking to waterfalls, going scuba diving and riding dirt bikes.

“Marcus was always fun,” said his stepmother, Joyce Mathes. “I know he died a soldier and doing exactly what he wanted to do.”

That was Marcus, but it didn’t totally define him.

Mathes, 26, of Zephyrhills, Fla., was killed April 28 during a rocket attack in Baghdad. He was assigned to Fort Polk.

Mathes left for boot camp on his 23rd birthday, March 15, 2005.

He served in Afghanistan from October 2006 until March 2007. In November 2007, he left for Iraq.

He had “US Army” tattooed into his skin. He also had a tattoo of an American eagle, and also one of his wife’s name.

“Like most young men, he enjoyed his car very much,” said Mathes’ father-in-law, Chuck Ehrman. “He also was the type to make everyone feel happy. He was very fun-loving.”

He loved anything dangerous or thrilling, said his mother, Sue Sawyer. “He was full of life,” she said. “He loved life and lived it to the fullest.”

He also is survived by his wife, Julia. “Hey baby!” she wrote to him on Valentine’s Day. “If I were there, I’d make you a sand heart.”