Family, friends remember Aggie soldier who 'always had a smile'

Matthew Ryan Vandegrift, Class of 2003 and a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, died in Basrah, Iraq, Monday when a makeshift bomb exploded near his Humvee.

Vandegrift was in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was on a yearlong deployment in Iraq as part of a military transition team whose job was to train Iraqi security forces. His team consisted of four marines and 50 Iraqis who lived and patrolled together.

Vandegrift visited home two weeks earlier - a break from Iraq after his first six months of service. He turned 28 on April 17, four days prior to the explosion.

While at Texas A&M, Vandegrift was a member of H1 of the Corps of Cadets. He graduated with honors and maintained a 4.0 grade point ratio. Nonetheless, the friends he made in college knew him as a fun-loving guy who was always busy and ready for new and exciting things.

John Kriel, Class of 2003, and Shane McAfee, Class of 2003, met Vandegrift while in the Corps of Cadets and continued their friendship when they enlisted in the Marines.

"Some of the best memories were our freshmen year during the last Aggie Bonfire cut," Kriel said. "Matt enjoyed that and was big into that."

"He made straight As all the time, but he was not a nerd," McAfee said. "Some of the craziest things I ever did in my life, I did with him. Yet he did not take a sip of alcohol till he was 21. He didn't drink just because his parents asked him [not] to."

This spoke a lot about his relationship with his family. He grew up in Austin, Texas, with his parents, John and Mary Jane, and younger brother Barrett.

While at A&M, his family moved to Littleton, Colo., which he called home.

"He loved his parents more than anything in the world, and they loved him more than anything in the world," McAfee said. "It was the best family you could ever imagine. You wanted to be in this family."

Vandegrift's love spread far beyond his family. He always had time for his friends, even with his solid grades.

"He always surrounded himself with good, genuine people," McAfee said.

The support of his friends was evident in the relationships he established during his life, as well as the actions of his friends after his death. Many members of the Corps and high-school friends plan to travel to Colorado for the funeral Monday.

"He was one of the most straightforward and honest persons I've ever known in my life," McAfee said. "Whatever he did was true. He never failed me once as a friend."

"Matt was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy," Kriel said. "He always had a smile on his face."

Vandegrift enlisted with the Marine Corps in August 2005, in accordance with a long line of familial military service. His father was a major in the Marine Corps, and his great uncle was one of the most famous commandants in the Corps. Gen. Vandegrift received the Medal of Honor during World War II. Vandegrift's younger brother, Barrett, is a pilot in the Air Force.

Funeral services will be Monday in Colorado. Vandegrift will be buried with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

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