Name: Army Spc. Matthew M. Pollini

Age: 21

From: Rockland Mass.; was

Assigned to the 772nd Military Police Company, Massachusetts Army National Guard, Taunton, Mass.;

Incident: Army Spc. Matthew M. Pollini died Jan. 22 at Forward Operating Base Delta, near al-Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover.

Died: January 22, 2009

‘We had lots of plans,’ widow says

The Associated Press

ROCKLAND, Mass. — Rockland is mourning a soldier family members say has died in Iraq.

Twenty-one-year-old Pfc. Matthew Pollini was serving with the 772nd Military Police Company, an Army National Guard unit from Taunton. Flags flew at half-staff in Rockland and the town posted a memorial notice.

Erica Pollini told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy her brother “was a talented, loyal person” who joined the National Guard two or three years ago. She said his unit was activated last fall and he was due home in October. Joseph Pollini told WBZ-TV his older brother “was a hero, a hands-down hero,” and said he followed his brother into the the same Guard unit, a dream of service they shared.

Pollini’s 20-year-old wife Sarah, whom he married Dec. 22, told The Patriot Ledger, “we had lots of plans.”

Soldier remembered as fun-loving ‘goofball’ by family

The Associated Press

Erica and Joseph Pollini laughed and cried as they talked about their brother, Matthew M. Pollini. They said he was fun-loving, a “goofball” who liked to make people laugh. “We want the world to know he was a great person,” Erica said. “He still is a person to me.”

Pollini, 21, of Rockland, Mass., died Jan. 22 near al-Kut of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over. He joined the Army National Guard in 2005 and was assigned to Taunton, Mass.

He and his wife, Sarah, were married Dec. 22 in a small ceremony in his parents’ living room. Matthew left Dec. 26 for a 10-month tour of duty.

“He was a really loyal, trusting person. He always wanted to help people. He was always there to help people. He was always cracking jokes and laughing. He really was the most honest person I ever met,” said his wife.

In October, when Matthew was due back in Rockland, he planned to take his wife on a “mini honeymoon” to Cape Cod. They planned to renew their wedding vows and have their “dream wedding” in 2012.

“He would do anything for me. He was always there for me,” said a brother Joseph Pollini, 17.