Army Spc. Matthew M. Murchison

Died August 4, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

21, of Independence, Mo.; assigned to the 127th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Hanau, Germany; died Aug. 4 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device.

---

Independence soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Spc. Matthew M. Murchison, 21, of Independence, who was killed in Iraq, will be buried Aug. 11 at Fort Leavenworth Cemetery.

Murchison was killed Aug. 4 in Baghdad when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 127th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, in Hanau, Germany.

He was born in Hutchinson, Kan., and moved to Independence in 2005 with his father, Michael Murchison, after he graduated from Olathe East High School. His father is a former Hutchison police officer.

His mother, Deborah Shanahan, of Kansas City, said her son had wanted to be a police officer since he was a child. His father said he decided in August 2005 to join the Army.

“He came up and said ‘Dad, I am joining the Army,’ and he asked me not to get mad. We’ve completely supported him,” his father told The (Independence) Examiner.

He said his son had an interest in joining the military when he was in high school.

“He did more in 21 years than many people do in a lifetime,” his father said.