Hundreds mourn fallen Las Vegas soldier

Always believe. Never give up.

Those were among the principles that Army Sgt. Matthew R. Hennigan followed as he grew up in Las Vegas, wrestled at Silverado High School and fought and died for his platoon in Afghanistan.

Family, friends, soldiers, sailors and veterans -- more than 500 in all -- mourned the 20-year-old paratrooper Sunday in a cemetery on Eastern Avenue near Warm Springs Road, not far from where he spent most of his life. He died June 30 after being wounded by machine-gun fire during an ambush of his platoon in the Tangi Valley, about 40 miles south of Kabul.

In eulogies given at Palm Mortuary & Cemetery and in interviews last week, soldiers, coaches, relatives and childhood friends spoke highly of the young man who had a beaming smile and a winning attitude that prevailed in his short but meaningful life.

"He led by example. He was brave. He knew personal sacrifice," said Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt. "He answered the call to serve and I'm sure he believed in what he was doing and who he was doing it with."

Colt reminded mourners Sunday about the values Hennigan had, those that "are deeply woven in the fabric of the Army."

He recited the U.S. Soldier's Creed: "I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade."

On Friday, Hennigan's former wrestling coach at Silverado, Gus Gledhill, remembered him as a no-nonsense team captain who made the state tournament in his senior year, 2007.

"He worked his tail off," said Gledhill, describing how Hennigan was down points in his qualifying match but came back with quick, relentless moves to defeat his opponent. Despite being behind, he never gave up, he said.

Gledhill said he had talked to Hennigan about his desire to join the Army.

"He was the type of guy the military would love to have. If he would be killed in action, that would be an honor for him," Gledhill said. "He knew what he was getting into and that wasn't going to discourage him one bit."

Shane Gettle, who also was a Silverado wrestler, said, "You could always count on him. ... He was a happy kid but when it came to wrestling, when he came down to the mat, he was serious."

Hennigan's cousin, Kenny Aleksiak, of Chicago, said, "Matt feared nothing and nobody. Nothing could stop Matt when he set his mind on something."

One example of that was his decision to join the Army.

"I'm sure people were against him going in but Matt was set on going. He truly believed it was where he belonged," Aleksiak said.

Nathan Reed and Hennigan became friends as 6-year-olds.

"We went from playing baseball in my front yard almost every day when we were little kids, to riding our bikes to school together, to checking in the mirror to see who got their armpit hairs first," Reed said, drawing laughs from the crowd. "I've got countless happy memories with Matt and I'm just sad we're not going be able to make any more. ... You're a bigger man than I am. I'm going to miss you a lot."

Army Sgt. Trent Schmidt, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Hennigan, before heading to Afghanistan, had asked him to escort his body home if he were killed. "It was the greatest honor of my life, one I'd rather not have."

Schmidt said he "didn't know Matt as a child, didn't know him as a teenager. ... But I knew him as a man, I knew him as a warrior, I knew him as a friend."

"He was an outstanding man, an outstanding warrior. He was an infantryman trapped in a military intelligence body," Schmidt said. "But if he was an outstanding man and an outstanding warrior, he was light-years beyond that as a friend."

While Hennigan's father, Joseph Hennigan, of Barrington, Ill., waited Thursday at Henderson Executive Airport for the return of his son's body, he talked about how determined his son had been to join the Army at age 17.

"He died doing what he wanted to do," Joseph Hennigan said. "I'm very proud. He was a great son. He is a hero."

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.