Maryland's Forty-Eighth Hero

matthewpwallace
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

Army Cpl. Matthew P. Wallace, 22, of Lexington Park, Md.; assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died July 21 in the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained July 16 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations in Baghdad.

HE FELT THAT HE WAS WERE GOD WANTED HIM TO BE

As a child growing up in St. Mary's County, Wallace played with empty toilet paper rolls and clothes hangers, pretending they were toy guns. Family members said he went through a "self-discovery phase" and dropped out of Great Mills High School after his sophomore year. In 2001, he earned a General Educational Development diploma, and he joined the Army in 2004.

Wallace was 5 feet 10 inches tall and 135 pounds of "pure muscle," his sister Abigail said. He played soccer and dabbled in karate. In Iraq, he trained on every weapons system possible, becoming a highly skilled soldier, she said.

Wallace's mother, Mary, said he sounded weary the last time they spoke on the phone. "They were just working and working with little relief," she said. But that was where he wanted to be, she added, her voice perking up. "He felt like he was doing what God thought he should do."