Navy Hospitalman Matthew G. Conte

Died February 1, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Mogadore, Ohio; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, serving as a hospital corpsman in Iraq under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (forward); died Feb. 1 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Ohio sailor killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

A sailor from northeast Ohio was killed in combat in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Friday.

Hospitalman Matthew G. Conte, 22, of Mogadore, died Thursday while his unit was fighting enemy forces in the province of Anbar, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

Conte graduated from Field High School in 2003 and took classes at Maplewood Career Center School in Ravenna during his junior and senior years, said friend Naser Rizek, 22, of Brimfield.

Rizek said Conte was like a brother to him.

“If you were down, he would put you up,” said Rizek. “If you needed help, he would be there.”

Rizek said Conte joined the Navy in February 2004 and had changed during his first tour in Afghanistan.

“He was a completely different person,” Rizek said. “He just broke down and cried, and he really didn’t want to go to Iraq.”

“He wanted to go because he wanted to do for his country, but at the same time he didn’t want to go because he was scared,” Rizek said.

Conte was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division in Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii. He was serving as a hospital corpsman in Iraq under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force.

There were no telephone listings under the Conte name in Mogadore, about 10 miles east of Akron, or surrounding areas.

Messages seeking comment were left after hours at Mogadore High School.

The Navy did not release any more details.

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Thousands gather to mourn Ohio soldier, sailor killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

The father of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq held his 18-day-old grandson in his arms in front of his son’s casket. Another father who lost a son in the war said he and his wife almost expected their altruistic son’s fate.

Thousands stood in the cold Feb. 10 to line funeral processions for Army Cpl. Tyler Butler in East Liverpool, Ohio, and Navy Hospitalman Matthew Conte in Rootstown, Ohio.

Austin Butler was only nine days old Feb. 1, when Butler was killed when the Humvee he was riding in overturned in Baghdad. Butler, 21, was set to come home to eastern Ohio at the end of that week to meet his son. The military police officer was promoted from private first class after his death.

Conte, 22, died while his unit was fighting enemy forces in the province of Anbar, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. The medic was a graduate of Field High School in Mogadore, and his parents now live in Jacksonville, Fla.

Butler’s wife, Ashley, a former member of the same military police company, now lives in Traverse City, Mich.

Butler’s friends still in Iraq wrote e-mails that were read at the service.

Pfc. Cordell Knapp said he didn’t like Butler at first but soon appreciated his forthrightness, humor and ability to see through people’s insecurities and hang-ups.

“Tyler called your bluff every time,” Knapp wrote. “It was nice to have someone tell the truth even if it wasn’t what we wanted to hear.”

Marine Cpl. Tyler Gaskill grew up with Butler in East Liverpool and said he thinks of Kenneth and Laura Butler as “second parents.”

“I love them and wish that I could be there with them to help them through this,” he wrote.

At Conte’s funeral, family and friends passed a microphone to talk about his huge smile and zest for life.

An aunt recalled how awestruck he was when he first saw New York City. An uncle talked about how he loved to fish in a pond near the family hunting camp. His babysitter remembered the young Matthew leaping from his school bus into her arms.

His father, Gale, fought tears as he said he and his wife, Lureen, “kind of expected this, unfortunately.”

“He loved the service,” he said. “When anybody needed anything, he would be there for them. And it always scared the living daylights out of us because we were just always afraid for him.”