< Home
Matt Lynch was one of the brightest students and most accomplished athletes to ever come out of Jericho High School. His swimming records still stand unbroken from his years as captain of the Jericho swim team, and his legacy as the greatest catcher to ever play baseball for Jericho High School still remains untarnished. As a result of his accomplishments, both on the athletic fields and in the classroom, Matt was awarded a scholarship to Duke University in 1997.
In 2001, Matt graduated from Duke and immediately enrolled in OCS (Officer Candidate School) with the United States Marines Corps in Quantico, Virginia. Being a Marine wasn't only his desire, it was his destiny, as he sought to follow in his father's and older brother's footsteps.
After two tours of duty in Iraq, Matt opted to return to the battlefield once again, telling his parents, “Mom, Dad, you will think I'm crazy, but my old unit, my buddies are going back to Iraq, and I really want to join them.”
On August 31, 2004, Matt did return with Pendleton's 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment. Just two months later, outside the town of Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim area west of Baghdad where U.S. forces had been clashing with insurgents for weeks, Matt was killed when shrapnel from an IED (improvised explosive device) struck him in the neck.
Matt was lighthearted and artistic (he played in a neighborhood band), fierce on the playing field but friendly everywhere else. He truly loved life.
Matt was also a dedicated member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Duke. Ever the True Gentleman, Matt was intensely devoted and fiercely loyal - to the brothers of SAE, to his teammates on both swimming and baseball teams, to his country, to his Corps and to his family.
[ Special thanks to Michael C. Jacobson for content. ]
