Location: 2066
Date: 11/15/2005
Rank: Specialist
Branch: U.S. Army
Operation: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Matthew Holley loved people – even the enemy. His best friend said in Holley’s eulogy: “It’s beyond my comprehension.”
Holley, who was born in Post Falls and whose parents, John and Stacey, live here, died Nov. 15, 2005 of injuries sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad.
Spc. Holley, a 21-year-old assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky., was John and Stacey’s only child. He was in Iraq for about six weeks.
“He was a fun-loving young man, but he liked a challenge,” John said. “He told his mother that he decided to be a combat medic because he wanted to serve a cause greater than himself.” Matthew, who was home-schooled, followed his father’s footsteps and completed the Army’s air assault school to become a “Screaming Eagle.” He said, ‘Now I can put my Jump Wings with yours, Dad,’” Johns said. “That was a very proud and emotional moment for me.” John said that he and Stacey were “not really excited” about their son joining the Army in 2003. But with a long list of family members who joined, including his parents, it was one of the obvious options. “Since he’s our only child, I was the pit bull and he was my pup,” John said. “At first I wondered as a parent what I could’ve done to prevent it, but people tell me that he was a growing man and it was his choice. So I’ve finally come to the realization that I couldn’t have done anything about it. “He was trying to figure out what to do with this life so we gave him options.”
Matthew was an artist, a three-time national AAU karate champion and a black belt in tae-kwon-do. And he often combined those passions. With an interest in the Orient, his work included intricate sketches on subjects such as samurais. One of John’s favorite pieces was that of a karate math with a devil and angel in the background to show good and evil. Matthew also liked working with kids and teaching his karate skills. “He wanted us to send crayons to give to the (Iraqi) kids,” John said. John and Stacey recently received a box from his fellow soldiers. “His sergeant wrote to tell us that Matt was very happy the last time he saw him,” John said. “Another soldier wrote that he was doing what he loved to do.”