I am very sad to report that LN Matthews, one of my best buddies, passed today in San Antonio, TX. He was a great guy, a solid Marine, and you would never worry when he had your back. He was my bunkie at VMO-6 Quang Tri and later Futenma, Oki. He was a jet mech by MOS, worked on OV-10s most of his time. I know he worked in VMO-6 OV-10 Maint and was a plane captain. He flew missions as a door gunner with either HMM-161 or 262, can't remember which. To me, that was much scarier than flying with Seaworthy. After our WesPac tour, we were both assigned to New River, LN at VMO-1, and me to H&MS-40. So, we were together at 3 duty stations over a 3 year period. basically, we spent our most critical formative years together--you know what i mean. And I was always a little envious because he got promoted faster than me 🙂

LN left active duty in about 1973 from VMO-4 as a SSgt and returned to civilian life. Originally from Bandera, TX, he worked and raised his family in San Antonio. He married Debbie (a Texas girl) in the spring of 1970 while stationed at VMO-1, and still married. They had 3 children, one of whom predeceased LN in death. He suffered a stroke during surgery some years ago, and spent his remaining years in a rehab center in San Antone. i visited him as often as i could get there and always had some laughs, especially when he kept the medical staff ladies giggling with his colorful USMC language and stories. They often told him, that "Now Mr. Matthews, you know you're not supposed to use that sort of language in here," followed by more giggling and eye rolling.

Visitation is at Grimes Funeral Chapel in Bandera, TX (1214 Mulberry) from 5-7 pm this Friday, March 16. Funeral is at same location (Bandera) on March 17 at 1 pm, followed by graveside service at Oak Rest Cemetery in Medina, Tx.

Bob Hughes, Houston, TX. 14Mar2018