Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews was patrolling downtown Ramadi, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2005, when his unit fell victim to an insurgent sniper ambush.
But Mathews, 21, of Columbia, never flinched.
“He was beside me the whole time,” said Cpl. Daniel Robinson, 22, of Texas, Mathews? squad leader. “He was giving his team commands. He was a perfectionist Marine, and it really showed. We didn?t have one casualty or one killed in action in the ambush.”
Now Mathews? fellow Marines are mourning his death after police say a drunken driver killed the 21-year-old on Thanksgivingnight while he was home visiting his family in Columbia.
Reached at Camp Pendleton in California, Cpl. Garrett Farris, 21, of Texas, said the Marines who served with Mathews are distraught over his death.
“It?s more anger than anything,” he said. “A guy goes to war and has no problems with that. He comes back to the States, and it?s supposed to be our safe place.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Lance Cpl. Jae Lee, 21, of Orange County, Calif., who served with Mathews in Ramadi.
“He was a really good friend,” Lee said. “I was shocked at first when I heard what happened. He went through seven months in Iraq, and to get hit by a drunken driver is unfair.”
Mathews and Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village, were killed after a crash at 10:20 p.m. on Route 175 in Columbia, when police say a 25-year-old man who was drinking and driving slammed into their car.
Police have charged Eduardo Raul Morales Soriano, 25, of Laurel, with homicide by motor vehicle, manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Soriano was not injured, police said.
Mathews? fellow Marines remember him as a solid, responsible Marine. They say his death is a huge loss to the force.
