Matthew R. Stovall

Died: August 22, 2004

Rank: First Lieutenant

Unit: 367th Maintenance Company, 298th Corps Support Battalion, Mississippi Army National Guard

Branch: U.S. Army

Lt. Matthew R. Stovall of Horn Lake, Miss., was killed Aug. 22, 2004, when an improvised explosive device exploded near his vehicle in Mosul, Iraq. The 25-year-old was assigned to the Mississippi Army National Guard’s 367th Maintenance Company, 298th Corps Support Battalion out of Philadelphia, Miss.

Stovall, a husband and father who had been deployed almost a year, was early sending a birthday card to his wife, whom he met while they were students at Mississippi State University. In the card, Stovall promised he would make up for all that he was missing with her and their 2-year-old son. He died two days before his wife's birthday. At the church where they wed, nearly 500 family members and friends said their goodbyes to Stovall and many more lined the streets of Philadelphia, Miss., during his funeral procession to the Coldwater Baptist Church Cemetery.