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S/Sgt Matthew C. McKeon, 79, dead...
Gunny G's Old Salt Marines Taver-~Interactive~ ^ | 16 Nov 03 | As Indicated

Posted on 11/16/2003 8:51:16 AM PST by gunnyg

To all those concerned about Mathew Mckeon......

To set the record straight - I would like to inform you that Mathew McKeon passed away on Veterans day Nov 11, 2003.

He was member of our Marine Corps League - Blackstone Valley Detachment 911. Today - members of this Detachment assisted in helping the family by giving Matt what he deserved - a full military funeral with honor guards at his wake and colors and a firing squad of seven at his funeral today.. Marines from the 25th USMC Reserves out of Worcester also assisted.

I did not count how many attended the wake and funeral - my guess it was in the hundreds.

We did our thing and proudly so. Matt will be missed by all who knew him. As far as I am concerned - he was a Marine's Marine until the day he died.

In reading the many comments in your forum - it is the same old adage ...either you hate someone or you like someone and I found many more liked S/Sgt McKeon than those who hated him. Everyone who knew him here loved the guy.

Thought I would give you the latest about Matt.

Attached is a copy of his obituary.

Sincerely

J. Rene Thibault Commandant - Blackstone Valley Detachment 911

WEST BOYLSTON- Matthew C. McKeon, 79, of 178 Maple St., passed away Tuesday, November 11, after an illness.

He was the beloved husband of Elizabeth (Wood) McKeon. He also leaves five devoted children, Rebecca A, wife of Robert Gallagher of Worcester, John A McKeon of Grafton, Bridget McKeon Downs of York Village, ME, Elizabeth M. Fernald of York Harbor, ME and Jane M. Staite of North Las Vegas; a brother, Edward McKeon of Worcester; two sisters, Anne Costello of New York City, Ellen Blanchard of Worcester; and eight devoted grandchildren. His sisters, Winifred Werme and Mary Hanratty, and his brothers, James and Francis McKeon, predeceased him.

He was the son of James and Alice (Trainor) McKeon. He lived in West Boylston for 41 years.

Mr. McKeon served in the Navy during World War II and the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was a member of the Blackstone Valley Marine Corps League. He died on Veterans Day.

Calling hours at the Athy Memorial Home, 111 Lancaster St., Worcester are Friday, Nov. 14 from 4 to 7 p.m. The funeral will be Saturday, Nov. 15 from the funeral home with a Mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 111 Worcester St., West Boylston. Burial will be in St. Joseph¹s Cemetery, Leicester.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: history; marinecorps; marines; mathewmckeon; obituary; usmc; veterans; veteransday
Via E-Mail to me.
1 posted on 11/16/2003 8:51:17 AM PST by gunnyg
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To: gunnyg
Background:
S/Sgt Matt McKeon/Parris Island 1956/Plt #71/Ribbon Creek Incident, etc.

Info here!!!!!

2 posted on 11/16/2003 8:54:41 AM PST by gunnyg
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To: gunnyg
Tribute to a fallen Marine
by John Stevens

Gunny,

I thought you and the other Marines who knew or knew of Matt McKeon might be interested in the obituary I wrote after attending his funeral last Saturday:
November 15, 2003




On a hardscrabble hill overlooking the rural neighborhood where he was born, Matthew McKeon was buried today. More than a hundred of his friends and family huddled together in the face of the late autumn winds as an admixture of Catholic blessings and Marine Corps salutes paid final tribute to the flawed but noble spirit whose lifeless embodiment was laid to its final rest.

Forty-seven years ago, this same man was reviled by all too many people as a heartless butcher, a sadist whose momentous error of judgment caused six Marine recruits to drown in the black waters of Ribbon Creek. His life thereafter was in many ways an effort to seek redemption for the act that he could never undo. At his court-martial he testified that had he been asked to walk to the gallows he would have done so. A devout man, he prayed every day of his life thereafter for the souls of his lost recruits and for forgiveness.

But there was so much more to this man than was revealed by the publicity surrounding the events from which he derived such notoriety. Until that time he had an unblemished military record, serving in World War II aboard the carrier “Essex” and as a machine gunner on the frigid battlefields at the Chosin Reservoir. He was a battle-tested Marine who had faithfully and honorably served his country in the face of peril.

Matt McKeon was a gregarious man without hint of guile or pretense. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he recounted to me the events of Ribbon Creek forty years earlier. He was faithful to his wife, Betty, loyal to his friends, and loving to his extended family. He never sought to escape responsibility or to cast the burden on others for the deaths at Parris Island. Say what one will, he was a man of character.

Matt McKeon died at his home, quite appropriately on Veterans Day, his family at his side. May he rest in peace enjoying now the redemption never attainable in his lifetime. If there is a place beyond, may he forever be joined in serenity with the six young men who preceded him there.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=220604&messageid=1069115614
Note:
Former Marine John Stevens is the author of, "Court-martial At Parris Island: The Ribbon Creek Incident"

Posted on Nov 17, 2003, 7:33 PM
from IP address 24.128.162.106
3 posted on 11/17/2003 6:23:22 PM PST by gunnyg
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