Army Spc. Mathew G. Boule

Died April 02, 2003 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

22, of Dracut, Mass.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.; killed in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash in central Iraq.

Spc. Mathew Boule, 22, was an overachiever in high school, where he played football and wrestled. Paintball wars were a passion.

He found another passion after high school and signed up for a five-year Army tour.

“He loved his work and he loved his birds,” his mother, Sue Boule, told the Associated Press. “I went to visit him in Georgia last July and he showed me his bird — that’s what he called his Black Hawk. He was so proud of it. He was so proud he made crew chief. Some day he wanted to fly them.”

Boule last talked to his parents in February. “I asked him if he was scared,” his mother said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’m scared and I don’t know what the future will bring, but I have to do this for them, for my family.’ ”