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Sgt. Matthew Bohling, center, poses with his father Chuck and mother Sandy in December 2003. Bohling was killed Sept. 5 while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.
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People who knew Eagle River resident Matthew Bohling have spent the last week reminiscing about him as a son, brother, friend and soldier.
"He knew from the time he was maybe four or five years old (that he wanted to join the Army)," said Sandy Bohling, his mother. "And he never wavered from it."
Bohling, 22, a U.S. Army sergeant, was killed in Ramadi, Iraq, Sept. 5 when an improvised explosive device was detonated near a Humvee he was in, according to reports from the Department of Defense.
A memorial service was to be held Wednesday at Birchwood Community Church. Bohling was to be buried at Fort Richardson National Cemetery with full military honors immediately after the service.
He was stationed out of Fort Benning, Ga., and was in the midst of his second tour of duty in Iraq.
But his heart was in Alaska, say his family and friends.
"Matt believed what he was doing in the military was for those he loved," said Justin Wetzler, a close friend since sixth grade. "He knew the danger, but when it came right down to it, Matt wanted to be there because he believed it was his duty to his family and friends in his hometown."
His family echoes that sentiment.
As his father, Chuck, who was clad in an Army T-shirt with the saying, "My son defends freedom" across the front, downloaded photos from his laptop computer Sunday afternoon, he said his son believed in what he was doing.
"Freedom was a dear thing to Matt," Chuck said. "He believed it was worth protecting."
Chuck, a soldier with more than 30 years of service in the Army National Guard, said he and his family continue to support the war on terrorism despite the personal cost.
The tough part for them - especially Sandy - is that they won't get to touch their son again.
"That is the hard part for me," Sandy said. "I don't get to hold my baby again and say goodbye to him like so many others get to do."
Instead, she clings to her family and friends in her faith community.
"We know that death is just a temporary separation," Chuck said. "We will see him again, and there will be a great reunion."
Besides, his mother said, he's probably actively engaged in one of his favorite activities, chit-chatting.
"Matt is probably up there talking Jesus' head off," said Sandy. "He just loved to gibber jabber with people. We are getting calls now from people we never met but whom he talked to and were left with a strong impression of him."
His aunt, Janene Harry of Aberdeen, S.D., who is in Alaska with her husband for Bohling's funeral, said her nephew was following in the footsteps of his father, her brother.
"Matt loved an audience and he could act out such a good story," she said, as she looked through photos of his childhood years.
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A young Matt Bohling shows off a grayling he caught in Interior Alaska after going hunting and fishing with his father.
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He also was brave, said Brad Rud, pastor of the Birchwood Community Church, which the Bohling family has belonged to for several years.
"At youth group outings where we were camping, it was always Matt who was first to chase the bears out of camp or the first to go investigate any strange noises in the night," Rud recalled. "Anything that was difficult in terms of a task that needed to be completed, Matt was the first one to volunteer for those types of things."
It was no surprise to Rud or Bohling's family that he wanted to be in Iraq.
Bohling actually volunteered for his first tour in 2003.
Bohling called Rud during his short military career several times - including a call from Iraq.
Rud treasures the privilege of talking to the young soldier whom he described as always being drawn to spiritual things.
Ray Ralonde, a former youth group leader at the church, remembered one night in a cabin at Victory Bible Camp when the young men in his charge were supposed to be bedding down for the night.
Instead, they were all huddled in a corner comparing their upper bodies. Bohling was leader of the pack. Once discovered, he tried to get Ralonde, then age 53, to join in.
"I told him, I didn't think I needed to be doing that at my age," Ralonde said. "But that was Matt. He was always the guy instigating fun."
Fun, with a big smile. That's what Stephanie Gillespie, the current youth leader at Birchwood, remembers about Bohling.
"He had a huge smile that could light up a room," she said. "That will be missed."
His family said they would carry on their military tradition. Bohling's older brother, Joshua, is a private in the U.S. Army.
He's currently studying explosive ordnance disposal at Eglin Air Force Base in Eglin, Fla.
It's an odd twist of fate not lost on his family.
"Joshua is going to save a lot of lives with his training," Chuck said. "For his mother's sake, I hope he doesn't go to Iraq, but I suspect he might have the same desire to serve just as his brother did. Unfortunately, Joshua won't be able to save his brother."
Reach the reporter at news@alaskastar.com.
