Thread: AMERICANS KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVING ILLEGAL ALIENS

Marine, friend die in crash


Howard soldier called 'bright light'

11/30/06
By Nate Sandstrom


Brian Mathews was a good listener, willing to do anything for a friend. He spent hours talking with his best friends as they walked around their Columbia neighborhood or sat on his stoop.

Mathews, a 2003 Howard High School graduate, fulfilled a lifelong dream to become a Marine, willing to enlist only as a member of the infantry. He served in Iraq from September 2004 to April 2005 and later in Pacific duty stations, where he became a Marine combat swim instructor.

"He was a very bright light in a short life span," said his mother, Trudy Mathews.

Family and friends remembered Cpl. Brian Mathews, 21, of Columbia, this week after he died following a car accident on Thanksgiving night.

Mathews was a passenger in a car driven by a date, Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village, when they were rear-ended by a car while stopped at a red light on Route 175 at Route 108, police said.

Police said that car was driven by Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano, 25, of Laurel, who was not injured.

He has been charged with two counts of manslaughter while intoxicated, two counts of homicide by motor vehicle and driving while under the influence of alcohol, police said. He was held in the Howard County Detention Center on $830,000 bond, a court spokesman said.

Police said that tests taken after the accident found Morales-Soriano had a blood alcohol content level of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit.

Vacation plans

Mathews arrived home on Thanksgiving, and planned to spend the weekend with his family and friends, including a celebration for the 21st birthday of one of his best friends, Kelly Rivers.

Rivers and fellow best friend Melissa Javier grew up on the same street, often spending time outside playing games or just talking on walks.

"He was an amazing listener," Rivers said. "He was like a brother to both of us."

"He pretty much helped me with everything I've ever had to deal with my entire life" from making decisions to providing a male perspective, Javier said.

His giving nature extended beyond just their friendship circle, Javier said. She remembered that in middle school Mathews would date girls who asked him out, even if they weren't the most popular.

"He would always judge people by what was on the inside," she said. "He wouldn't apologize and it wouldn't bother him if he was being different."

Rivers and Javier remembered trick-or-treating with Mathews when he dressed as a Marine or a Secret Service agent, and playing "capture the flag" with Mathews when he dressed up in camouflage and drew up strategies to win the game.

Mathews had a long family history of military service. His great-grandfather died on a British submarine in World War I. One grandfather lost a leg while fighting in World War II and the other was a Navy pilot who died in a crash off an aircraft carrier in 1958.

His father, Bill Mathews, is a former Marine sergeant and retired Navy captain, while brother Kyle Mathews is a Naval Academy graduate and a Navy pilot. His sister, Heather Hoppe, is in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Mathews was set to leave the military in June. He planned to go to college and was considering becoming a teacher, family and friends said.

Besides his military service, family members remember him for his giving nature.

"He always wanted to protect the child who was picked on," said Trudy Mathews.

That nature continued even after he died. Trudy Mathews received a call this week saying his organs had been used in several transplants.

When she took Brian to renew his driver's license, she said, he had decided to become an organ donor. He said at the time that "I won't need them and it could save other lives."

Mathews' life touched many people, friends and family said.

"It's very heartbreaking seeing all these kids I've known since kindergarten just devastated," said Lynn Javier, Melissa Javier's mother.

A viewing and service was held for Mathews on Nov. 29 and he will be buried at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery.

Attempts to reach the family of Jennifer Bower were unsuccessful.

Reporter Mike Santa Rita contributed to this article.

E-mail Nate Sandstrom at Nate Sandstrom@patuxent.com

Move to new section for Americans Killed By illegals.