Matthew S. Apuan
Profile
Age: 27
From: Las Cruces, N.M.
Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
Incident: Army Sgt. Matthew S. Apuan died Feb. 18 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with the enemy using small arms fire while on combat patrol.
Died: February 18, 2007
New Mexico soldier buried in hometown
The Associated Press
LAS CRUCES, N.M. � A Las Cruces soldier killed in Iraq was buried March 2 with full military honors in his hometown.
Sgt. Matthew S. Apuan, 27, was killed by enemy fire near Baghdad on Feb. 18.
An estimated 1,000 Las Cruces residents, including military troops, veterans and police officers from throughout southern New Mexico, lined a more than three-mile stretch of road as Apuan�s casket was carried from Holy Cross Catholic Church to Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders, made up of veteran and civilian motorcycle riders, escorted the procession, and the New Mexico National Guard saluted Apuan with a two-helicopter flyover during the service.
Apuan, a graduate of Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, was a tank gunner assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood,...