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A
Time to Give Thanks and Remember
I opened up the local paper to an article about the death of a local soldier in Afghanistan a week or so back and the name rang a bell. Matthew Ferrara of Torrance was the name of the affected service member. It connected in my mind with South Torrance HS, with the local news stories talking about his continued athletic, academic, and military career choice at the US Military Academy. Matthew was a 2001 grad of South HS. It turns out his is an amazing family situation, with his mother a sister of the New Zealand Defense Minister, with three Ferrara brothers involved with the US Military Academy. Matt and his group were ambushed November 9th by insurgents on the way from a meeting with area leaders on trying to straighten out the local situation and give people there a normal life. Good guy stuff that ended very terribly. I kind of have all these people stuck in my mind as I cover the sports and remember Matt as one not large in stature, but very tough as a runner. I was able to find a couple of results from his high school career. CIF-SS CROSS COUNTRY PRELIMS - Saturday 11/11/00 CIF-SS CROSS COUNTRY PRELIMS - Saturday 11/13/99 CIF-SS Southern Section Finals – Saturday 11/20/99 The whole situation struck a very sad chord with
me, and hope we can all stop in the
next couple days with our families, hopefully safe and sound,
and think a bit about the ultimate sacrifice that some are
asked to give for us as we enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and get
ready for the state meet. 'The best of all of us' by Denise Nix Of all of U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Ferrara's accomplishments, none was as meaningful as the bonds the Torrance resident formed with his family and friends. Before more than 1,000 mourners at Rolling Hills Covenant Church on Monday, Ferrara, 24, was eulogized for his bravery on the battlefield and for his adventurous lifestyle. Ferrara, a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, died Nov. 9 in Afghanistan. He was promoted posthumously from lieutenant to captain. West Point classmate Troy Ho was among the speakers who shared memories about Ferrara's fearlessness and zest for life. "Solace is drawn from the knowledge that he lived life to the fullest and inspired others to do the same," Ho said. Ferrara's uncle, New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff, spoke directly to the flag-draped coffin when he said Ferrara could have done or been anything he wanted to be. "Sadly, we can only speculate now on what you might have done," Goff said. "You'd really grown up to be a very fine and decent young man." Touching on Ferrara's stubborn nature, Goff and the other speakers acknowledged that the athletic and academically gifted soldier knew what he was doing when he chose to attend West Point just months after the United States went to war. "Matt, we're proud of you. Of what you are, of what you're doing, of your courage and your leadership," Goff said. "For us, Matt, you'll always be that 24-year-old with a cheeky grin in the prime of your life." Ferrara, a 2001 South High School graduate, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat team based in Italy and deployed in eastern Afghanistan. He was on a foot patrol as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force when he and his group were ambushed by insurgents. Six Afghan soldiers and five other ISAF service members - including
23-year-old Army Spc. Lester Roque, who also called South Bay home
- were killed in the assault. Roque will be interred Saturday following
11 a.m. funeral services at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress. Joe Simenc, Ferrara's roommate, company mate and track teammate at West Point, was one of many who called Ferrara his "best friend." He recounted a surfing trip they took to Costa Rica. Ferrara, an experienced surfer, led Simenc, a novice, to the big breakers. "I wasn't really sure what a riptide was. Matt told me not to worry about it," he quipped. Ferrara challenged him, and he said he respected his positive attitude and the way he made the most of every day. "He was a short kid from California who taught me so much about myself, and in the end, he changed my life," Simenc said. "Matt was the best of all of us, and we will always remember him." Ferrara's older brother, Marcus, also a West Point graduate, and one of his younger brothers, Andy, a sophomore at the military academy in New York, said they admired their brother for his commitment to excel. "He believed in a cause, and he wanted to be a leader," Marcus said in an emotional speech. "He didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't. He just did his job, and did it really well." Ferrara's close-knit family also includes brother Damon, who attends USC's ROTC program, and sister Simone Carmichael, who plays professional soccer. They were all featured during a slide show that illustrated Ferrara's progression from chunky baby and silly Scout to a serious cross-country runner and gun-wielding soldier. As Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" played, Ferrara's life of family celebrations and vacations, as well as his worldwide travels and snowboarding and mountain biking trips, flashed on two large screens. The last one showed his flag-draped coffin, alone on a foreign
airfield, just before it was loaded onto a plane to come home. His uniform-clad brothers saluted and wiped tears as a bugler played Taps. An Army representative presented his parents, Mario and Linda Ferrara, with the folded flag and Ferrara's Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal. Ferrara will be cremated, and some of his ashes will be scattered in the ocean off Redondo Beach, one of his family's favorite hangouts. The rest will be interred at West Point. Ferrara was the third South High graduate killed in the 12 months while fighting overseas. Army Cpl. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, was killed May 23 after he was kidnapped outside of Baghdad and Army Spc. Micah Gifford, 27, died Dec. 7 in a bomb blast in Baghdad. |
