Ross William Hamilton, The Oregonian
Marine Cpl. Matthew Lembke returned to Oregon on Thursday night, six days after he died at Bethesda Naval Hospital from wounds he sustained in a June bombing in Afghanistan. His parents, Claudia and Dale Lembke of Tualatin and their daughter Carolyn Lembke (right) of Sherwood met his casket at the Hillsboro Airport. About 120 family, friends, military and members of the Patriot Guard riders escorted the body to the Wilsonville funeral home.
Marine Cpl. Lembke's body is returned to Oregon
by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
Saturday July 18, 2009, 10:25 AM
Forty-eight flags snapped at the Hillsboro Airport as Claudia Lembke waited for the small military charter to arrive.
She waited, as she had since an IED exploded in southern Afghanistan June 22. Waited as her son Marine Cpl. Matthew Lembke was airlifted to Germany, days later flown on to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where she waited for weeks at his bedside.
Time enough for friends to launch a Web page, trust fund and Facebook group, to unfurl the prayer chains and imagine the success story: a Marine who lost both legs, whose heart and breathing stopped and was restarted, a man who hung on.
But he died of complications July 10 with both parents and sister Carolyn beside him.
read more here
Marine Cpl. Lembke body is returned to Oregon
