Boulder City Little League: My Site News

The 90' field at Veterans Memorial Park is named for one of Boulder City's own.   Shane E. Patton was a graduate of Boulder City High School where he played on the baseball team.  Shane was also a former Boulder City LL player.

The following information is provided by navyseals.com:

Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Thomas, commander of the 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, promoted Commons for his actions under enemy fire in defense of his country, a Special Operations spokesman said.

Commons, who grew up in Boulder City, Nevada, and was a 1999 graduate of Boulder City High School, was among seven U.S. servicemen killed Monday during Operation Anaconda.

He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Monday. Services are planned as well in Boulder City and Indianapolis, family members said.

Commons and his team had been brought into battle Monday by two CH-47 Chinook helicopters when they came under heavy ground fire by surrounding enemy forces.

According to a statement from the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Commons was a grenade-launcher gunner who had served nearly two years in the Army and had graduated from airborne school. Two others from the 1st Battalion who were killed in the firefight were Sergeant Bradley Crose, 22, and Specialist Marc A. Anderson, 30, a machine gunner.

In addition to his promotion, Commons has been awarded the Bronze Star with valor, the Purple Heart and his Ranger ribbon.

Greg Commons said members of his son's Ranger regiment visited him at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday and shared stories about his son.

They also presented him with a letter expressing their sympathy and praising Matthew Commons' work with the unit.

Greg Commons, a former Marine, said he read the letter aloud to family members who have been gathering at the home in preparation for Monday's funeral.

"I wanted to make sure they understood the importance of what he had done," Commons said. "It was a very, very heartwarming letter and very heart-wrenching to read how much they respected my son."

He said the Army has not given him an exact account of how  his son died in combat, but he expects the information to be forthcoming once all the soldiers that were there are debriefed and a report is assembled.

Matthew A. Commons was born February 18, 1981, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He attended grade school in Indianapolis until his family moved to Boulder City about 11 years ago.

In Boulder City, he was active in St. Andrews Catholic Community. He was an honors student and a member of the soccer team at Boulder City High School. He was also elected secretary of his senior class.

He attended the University of Nevada, Reno for a year before enlisting in the Army in July 2000.

A memorial service for him in Boulder City by the American Legion Post is planned for March 15, and one will be announced next week by St. Andrews Catholic Community.

The family prefers donations be made in his name to a scholarship fund in care of St. Andrews Catholic Community, 1399 San Felipe Dr., Boulder City, NV 89005.

Serviceman killed in Afghanistan was following dad's footsteps

The father of one of seven U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan said his son was following his footsteps into the military and hoped to also follow him into teaching.

Army Private First Class Matthew A. Commons, 21, "served his country and he loved his country," said Gregory J. Commons, 50, a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam and whose father also served in the Marines.

"He mirrored my life in a lot of ways," Gregory Commons said in a telephone interview from his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Matthew Commons was single and listed his hometown as Boulder City, Nevada, a community about 30 miles east of Las Vegas. His divorced parents now live in Virginia.

The elder Commons, a history teacher, said his son visited his middle school classroom in Fairfax County in December, dressed in his Army Ranger battle dress uniform. He planned to follow his father into the classroom once he left the military, Gregory Commons said.

"There are times he said to me, 'You did OK,'" Commons said.

Matthew Commons and six other soldiers were killed Monday during the bloodiest operation of the war - an air and ground offensive against al-Qaida forces in the snowy eastern Afghanistan mountains near the town of Gardez. An American soldier was also killed Saturday.

Commons also grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and leaves behind relatives in central Indiana who plan to travel to Virginia for his funeral on Monday. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

His grandmother, Martha Commons, of Indianapolis, described her grandson as "full of fun" and noted that he followed his father's path into the military after high school.

"I have some misgivings about war - period," Martha Commons said. "I'm not bitter. I would prefer that we weren't over there."

"Matt is a good example of what's right about kids in America," said Lynn Stewart, a Boulder City High School government teacher and Vietnam veteran who said he remembered Commons well.

"He was a good, solid kid," Stewart said. "He loved his country and was willing to put his life on the line."

Pam Murphy, a mother whose son, Shawn Murphy, was a close friend with Matthew Commons, said the family had seen Commons at Christmas.

"He was excited because he was training to become a Ranger," Pam Murphy said. "He was a good and honorable kid."

Commons was a member of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.

Gregory Commons said the Army told him his son was engaged in a rescue operation when he was killed.

"He gave his life to save the life of another Ranger," the elder Commons said.

He said he and his wife, Patricia, had two sons, Matthew and Aaron, now 18, before they divorced in 1986. Matthew Commons lived with his mother, now Patricia Marek, outside of Boulder City, but spent summers with his father. Aaron Commons now attends college in Colorado.

Matthew Commons was a soccer player, a class officer and an honor student. He graduated from high school in 1999, but dropped out of the University of  Nevada at Reno and joined the military for "some structure," said Gregory Commons, the ex-Marine.

"When he called to tell me he joined the Army, I said, 'You did what?' He was tough, he was macho. He was proud of being a Ranger."

Commons, an Indiana native, said he and his former wife agreed after their divorce to put their differences aside when it came to raising their two sons. She returned to Virginia to share their grief. Patricia Marek could not be reached for comment.

"We cried through the night," Gregory Commons said. "He took the best from the both of us.

"He was a good kid. I'm going to miss him."

Former high school girlfriend Brittney Haworth, 20, of Las Vegas, said Commons had been e-mailing and calling her from Afghanistan every few weeks.

"He was an amazing guy. When he first told me he was going over there, I was really scared, but I was really proud of him," said the Mandalay Bay resort hostess, who dated Commons for about a year. "He was excited to be doing what he was doing and he was doing exactly what he wanted."

Commons is the second Nevada serviceman to die since fighting began in Afghanistan. Jason Disney, an Army specialist from Fallon, died February 13 at Bagram Air Base, 40 miles north of Kabul, Afghanistan, when a large piece of equipment fell on him.

Boulder City soldier 'gave the ultimate,' even in death

Patricia Marek, mother of Private First Class Matthew Allen Commons of Boulder City, knew something was wrong Monday when her 21-year-old son failed to call home as usual.

Military officials on Tuesday informed her and her ex-husband Gregory Commons, that their oldest son had died that day of a fatal head wound, killed in Afghanistan during an Army Ranger mission to rescue another U.S. soldier captured by al-Qaida fighters.

Commons, a 1999 graduate of Boulder City High School, was one of seven U.S. troops killed Monday, and the second Nevadan to die in Afghanistan this year. Just more than a week ago, Army Specialist Jason A. Disney, 20, of Fallon, was killed in an accident at Bagram Air Base near Kabul.

Commons, whose father and grandfather served as Marines in the Vietnam War and World War II respectively was remembered today by family, friends, local and state leaders as a well-liked, thoughtful young man who was active in his church and worked summers as a deckhand on a Lake Mead tour boat.

Marek since January had spoken to her son by phone each Monday from her new home in Alexandria, Virginia. She works there as an administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Not able to speak of Common's activities because of the secrecy of his mission, she and her son spent much of their time talking about a difficult divorce she is going through. The last time they spoke, just more than a week ago, they spoke for 23 minutes, she said.

"He wanted to make sure I was OK, that I had everything I needed, that I wasn't starving or out on the street," she said, noting he wanted to give her money. "He would give the shirt off his back to anyone, and I guess he did. He gave the ultimate."

Marek said she will miss her son's smile. "He always hugged me. He wasn't afraid ever to say 'I love you, mom' in front of other people."

For his 21st birthday, which he celebrated in Afghanistan last month, Marek sent him cheese, crackers and party hats. She couldn't send him a cake.

"And he wanted Vienna sausages. 'Send me Vienna sausages,' he said."

Marek and Gregory Commons, divorced 16 years, were grieving together today at Commons' home in Virginia. Commons is a middle school history teacher there.

"He loved his country. He felt a strong sense of honor and loyalty to his family and his country and his church," Mr. Commons said. "I'm very proud and very sad. We'll never hunt or golf together again."

Matthew Commons was also remembered by parents at Boulder City High School, teachers and a former principal.

Brenda Mooney, a secretary at the high school, remembered Matthew bringing flowers to her daughter, a classmate of his, after she had her wisdom teeth pulled.

"He was thoughtful," she said, struggling to maintain her composure.

Lynn Stewart, a government teacher at Boulder City High School for 32 years, said he and Matthew joked about things while studying the upcoming 2000 presidential race and local political races.

"He wasn't a flashy kid. Just solid, a decent kid. He did what he was supposed to do," Stewart said. 

Bill Garis, former principal of Boulder City High School, said Matthew had graduated with about 135 other students in a year when the basketball team won the state AAA championship.

"Matt was just one of those students who did very well across the board," Garis said. "But what I remember most was that he was so well-liked by the other students."

Senators Harry Reid, D-Nev, and John Ensign, R-Nev, also issued statements expressing their pride and gratefulness at the young man's service in the fight against terrorism.

Matthew Commons arrived in Boulder City with his mother and younger brother Aaron in 1991, earning honors for his classwork up through his graduation in  1999. He also played soccer and served as class secretary.

He enrolled at University of Nevada, Reno in 1999, but dropped out in his freshman year. On July 27, 2000, he enlisted with the Army, eventually training as an elite soldier in the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. He planned to become a history professor, Marek said.

That was one reason for her recent move to Virginia.

"It would only be a nine-hour drive to Savannah and we could meet half way," she said. "I figured for once in my life we wouldn't have to fly all over creation to be together."

Pausing to think, she then said that the trip would be less now, if, as planned, her son is buried with honors at Arlington Cemetery.

  WASHINGTON, March 5 Trapped by intense hostile fire and unable to evacuate their wounded for 12 hours, American Special Operations forces fought off an Al Qaeda ambush in some of the most grueling and gruesome combat of the five- month-old war in Afghanistan officials said today.

When it was over on Monday, the bodies of 7 American servicemen and 11 wounded comrades were lifted off the battlefield under guard of American combat aircraft. Their machine guns and cannon of AC- 130's drove back the advancing fighters but not before commanders monitoring airborne surveillance video had seen Al Qaeda fighters dragging off an American serviceman to his death, military officials said.

Important fresh details of a set of combat operations that began Sunday and were waged over a sprawling battlefield emerged as Pentagon officials said the hard-core Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters making a last stand in eastern Afghanistan suffered heavy casualties but also surprised American forces by their fierce resistance. "I don't think we knew what we were getting into this time, but I think we're beginning to adjust," Sergeant Major Mark Nielsen told a reporter in the Pentagon press pool for the operation.

Some of the heaviest fighting of the five-month war also brought the heaviest American combat losses, with Pentagon officials and senior military officers describing a battlefield where the topography itself was as hostile as the adversary allowing opposing fighters, who seemed willing to fight to the death rather than surrender, to charge and then retreat to fortified caves and trenches.

But most of all, they described the heroism of those American servicemen who fell in combat, and those who went in to bring them back.

One of the American commandos killed was a Navy Seal, Petty Officer Neil C. Roberts, 32, who tumbled from one of two MH-47 Chinook helicopters that was to carry in Special Operations forces. Just as the helicopters touched down about 5:30 p.m. Sunday Eastern time in the dark of night in Afghanistan, where it is 9 1/2 hours later one of the helicopters was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, officials said. Both lifted off quickly and flew about a mile, where they set down again to check for damage.

That was when they realized that Petty Officer Roberts was not on board. But commanders had access to real-time surveillance videos shot by a Predator, an unmanned airborne vehicle, and they saw his capture.

"We saw him on the Predator being dragged off by three Al Qaeda men," said Major General Frank L. Hagenbeck, commander of the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y., who is in charge of the ground operation in Afghanistan.

One of the two helicopters flew back to where Petty Officer Roberts was lost, and dropped off its Special Operations team to try to rescue him.

In addition, General Hagenbeck, speaking to reporters in a Pentagon press pool in Afghanistan, said that "a quick reaction force of about 30 Special Operations troops" was also sent to rescue him.

"We don't leave Americans behind," said Brigadier General John W. Rosa, Jr., deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

By about 9 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, two more Chinooks touched down about a mile or so from where the Navy Seal was last seen. The opposing forces apparently had set up an ambush and were waiting.

One Chinook was able to drop off its Special Operations team and depart; the other was riddled with machine-gun fire and hit by grenades, and could not fly.

"A large number of the enemy advanced on them," a senior military officer said. The Americans fired back, setting up fighting positions and calling in attack jets as well as AC-130 gunships that brought a withering fire of heavy machine guns and cannon, the Pentagon said.

Before they were rescued by helicopter 12 hours later, 6 Americans had been killed and 11 more wounded. The Pentagon today identified the dead as Sergeant Bradley S. Crose, 27; Sergeant Philip J. Svitak, 31; Specialist Marc A. Anderson, 30, and Private First Class Matthew A. Commons, 21, all of the Army; and Technical Sergeane John A. Chapman, 36, and Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham, 26, of the Air Force.

The body of Petty Officer Roberts was also recovered and carried out aboard a rescue helicopter. He died of a bullet wound, apparently at the hands of his captors, military officials said.

After describing the bitter losses, senior officers expressed no doubts today that the remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban will be captured or killed in coming days.

"The final outcome of this is certain," said one senior military officer. "We will kill or capture all of the Al Qaeda. The only thing that is in doubt is how long that will take."

American combat troops for Operation Anaconda told a Pentagon pool reporter from The Associated Press harrowing tales of being pinned down by hostile fire. 

Elements of the 10th Mountain Division were pinned down on Saturday after taking fire from the town of Marzak. Lieutenant Colonel Frank LaCamer, who was among those trapped, said about 40 soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division spent 12 hours under fire from mortar and rocket-propelled grenades that landed within 15 yards, wounding 13.

And Colonel Frank Wiercinski, a brigade commander for the 101st Airborne Division, said that shortly after he landed south of Sirkankel to survey the battle his detachment of about 11 men were attacked and pinned down.

Sergeant Major Nielsen's detachment came under fire before they seized a Qaeda compound a half mile from Sirkankel. When they arrived, they made a startling discovery.

"It was unbelievable, in the mud hut where these guys slept, the beds were still warm and tea was still brewing," he said.

The strain of continuous operations at high altitude has prompted American officials to ready forces to replace the Americans on the ground, military officials said, although the numbers of American fighters on the battlefield had not grown in the past 24 hours.

Five fresh Cobra attack helicopters, which had been based on the Bonhomme Richard, a Marine Corps amphibious assault ship in the North Arabian Sea, have joined Army Apaches. All of the Apaches flying during the first day of battle were hit by fire from the ground, but none were lost in action, officials said. In addition, the Air Force A-10, a heavily armored, slow-flying attack aircraft normally used to destroy tanks, has been sent into battle in Afghanistan for the first time, its targets the opposing troops gathering together.

Correspondents traveling with the Pentagon pool for the combat mission were told that an opening offensive had sent a detachment of Special Forces to work with General Zia Lodin, a local commander, and to secure the village of Sirkankel, about 25 miles south of Gardez.

But Al Qaeda and non-Afghan Taliban fighters surprised the allied force of about 450 with a fierce defense, killing one American and two Afghans and wounding 24. More than 40 Americans have been wounded since the operation began, although 18 of those have already returned to combat, officials said.

Military officials said the battle against Al Qaeda and Taliban who have regrouped near Gardez is being carried out in steep mountain peaks dotted with caves, as well against some structures in the valleys.

General Rosa said allied troops overran one cave and found a sizeable cache of weapons. At another building, they found foreign passports and drivers licenses.

General Rosa said the sustained allied attack is taking its toll on Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. 

"I think the biggest thing to change, and not to be flip, is we've killed a lot of people," he said. "They're not roaming around freely like they were; they're dug in. They're hunkered in. We've got a simultaneous attack at times with air from the U.S. and coalition forces. But I think it's tougher on them right now, and they're not moving quite as freely."