The Army promoted to sergeant its only Soldier listed as captured, Keith Matthew Maupin, effective April 1, 2005.
The announcement comes today with the release of the decision by an Army board of inquiry that met April 6, 2005, to review the status of Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin. The decision, which has been approved by the Army Adjutant General, is to maintain Sgt. Maupin in a "Missing-Captured" status.
Maupin was on a convoy in Iraq when he became unaccounted for during an enemy attack.
A member of the 724th Transportation Company from Bartonville, Ill., he was subsequently placed in a "Duty Status: Whereabouts Unknown" status April 9, 2004. On April 16, 2004, his status was changed to ÒMissing-Captured.Ó
A key tenet of the Warrior Ethos is that a Soldier will never leave a fallen comrade. The Army remains firmly committed to finding Sgt. Maupin and bringing him home.
For more information, contact Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, Army Public Affairs, at (703)697-5343, HYPERLINK elizabeth.robbins@hqda.army.mil or Maj. Willie Harris, 88th Regional Readiness Command, at (612)290-0517.
AND
Missing Army soldier promoted to sergeant
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The only Army soldier listed as missing and captured in Iraq was promoted this month to the rank of sergeant, as Army officials vowed to keep searching for him.
Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, went unaccounted for after his fuel-truck convoy was ambushed on April 9, 2004, in a western suburb of Baghdad. The attack killed another member of Maupin's reserve unit, the 724th Transportation Company from Bartonville, Ill., and three U.S. contractors. Another contractor was captured but later escaped.
Militants released a blurry videotape last summer that purportedly showed Maupin, blindfolded, being shot in the back of the head in front of a hole dug in the ground. Army officials have said that although the video appears to show a U.S. soldier being killed, the victim's identity was unclear and the videotape's validity is questionable. U.S. forces have not recovered a body.
The Army announced last week that Maupin had been promoted effective April 1. Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman, said that Maupin remains in captured status after an Army board of inquiry reviewed the case last week. A key tenet of the Army's ethos is that a soldier will never leave a fallen comrade.
"They continue to search for him, and he is not forgotten," Curtin said.
AND
Newswire
Captured Soldier Promoted, but Status Unchanged
The Army promoted to sergeant its only Soldier listed as captured, Keith Matthew Maupin, effective April 1, 2005. The announcement comes today with the release of the decision by an Army board of inquiry that met April 6, 2005, to review the status of Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin. The decision, which has been approved by the Army Adjutant General, is to maintain Sgt. Maupin in a "Missing-Captured" status.
Maupin was on a convoy in Iraq when he became unaccounted for during an enemy attack.
A member of the 724th Transportation Company from Bartonville, Ill., he was subsequently placed in a "Duty Status: Whereabouts Unknown" status April 9, 2004. On April 16, 2004, his status was changed to "Missing-Captured."
A key tenet of the Warrior Ethos is that a Soldier will never leave a fallen comrade. The Army remains firmly committed to finding Sgt. Maupin and bringing him home.