Lembke, Matthew R.
Marines Corporal
Matthew R. Lembke, age 22, from Tualatin, Oregon, Washington county. Their last known residence was in Tualatin.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expenditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Date of death: Friday, July 10, 2009
Death details: Died from wounds sustained June 24, 2009 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Death details: On April 9, 1970, a, E-2A Hawkeye (bureau number 151711, call sign “Sun King 012”) carrying a crew of five took off from the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) in the Gulf of Tonkin on an administrative mission. About one mile ahead of the ship, “Sun King 012” declared it had a fire in the aft compartment. The aircraft then impacted the water and broke apart two to three miles ahead of the Coral Sea. An extensive search of the wreckage recovered the remains of one of “Sun King 012’s” crew members; however, the other four men aboard the aircraft are still unaccounted for. Airman Brian Lee Bushnell, who joined the U.S. Navy from Oregon, was a member of Carrier Early Warning Squadron 116. He was a passenger aboard “Sun King 012” when it went down, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains have not been recovered. After the incident, the Navy promoted AN Bushnell to the rank of Aviation Structural Mechanic Third Class (AMS3). Today, Petty Officer Bushnell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.