PFC Matthew L. Bertolino USMC, 20, (Afghanistan)

[GyBill]

In a letter home, Private First Class Matthew L. Bertolino said he entered the military as a boy, turned into a man, and would "leave as a Marine." He died this week in Afghanistan.

Marine from N.H. dies in Afghanistan
He felt a duty to serve his country, his mother said

A 20-year-old Marine from New Hampshire died while on combat patrol in Afghanistan on Thursday, the Pentagon said yesterday.

Private First Class Matthew L. Bertolino of Hampstead, N.H., was killed near Jalalabad when the military vehicle in which he was riding rolled over, Marine spokeswoman 1st Lieutenant Pamela Marshall said.

Last night his mother, Joyce Bertolino, said that her adventurous and athletic son had wanted to join the Marines for years.

''He felt a duty to serve his country, but I kept talking him out of it," she said.

In January 2005, Matthew, then 19, enlisted anyway. The move changed his life, she said.

''When he was in basic training, he wrote us a letter," she said last night at her home in Hampstead, a town of about 10,000 people, near the Massachusetts border. Locals describe it as being a 15-minute drive from Haverhill.

''He said, 'I went in as a boy and I turned into a man, but I am going to leave as a Marine.' "

She soon realized he was right.

Last April, Joyce Bertolino and other family members traveled to Parris Island, S.C., to see her son graduate from his basic training course.

''I noticed it right away," she said. ''He stood up straight and tall, and seemed so proud and confident." Later that day, he took his mother's arm and escorted her around the base. ''He'll always be my baby, but he had grown up so much," she said.

In July 2005, Bertolino was stationed in Hawaii. A member of the Alpha Company, First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, he spent six months learning advanced combat techniques. Then in mid-January, he traveled with about 1,000 other Marines to Afghanistan for a tour of duty that was scheduled to last six months.

On Thursday, he was sitting in the passenger seat of a Humvee when it overturned. The Marines are investigating the accident. ''We don't know the circumstances of his death," Marshall said.

At least 2,490 American military personnel, including Bertolino, have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.

Bertolino, a graduate of Pinkerton Academy in Derry, N.H., received several awards from the Department of Defense, including the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

In addition to his mother, he leaves his father Stanley; and two older sisters, Kimberly and Kristen.

In Hampstead, Bertolino is remembered by family members as tall, muscular, and always smiling. And always busy. If he wasn't sprucing up his red Jeep Wrangler, he'd probably be skiing or rock climbing somewhere.

''He was my rock," Kristen said. ''And he gave the best bear hugs."

He also had a knack for woodworking.

Joyce Bertolino said that the last time she spoke to her son, he promised to finish the kitchen cabinets he had been making for her.

''He told me he'd get them done when he came home this spring," she said.