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- This is to remember Matt La Porte. He was brave and a good guy that did not deserve this.He risked his own life in order to try to save everyone else's. Everyone will miss him. Whether you have talked ot him or not, you can feel the pain. Matt La Porte was from Dumont, N.J., a sophomore. He had been an Air Force cadet at Virginia Tech. La Porte graduated third in his class and was also drum major for the school's drum and bugle corps during his senior year.
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Remembering Matt La Porte HT 09
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- Remembering Matt La Porte HT 09
- Category:
- Student Groups - General
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- This is to remember Matt La Porte. He was brave and a good guy that did not deserve this.He risked his own life in order to try to save everyone else's. Everyone will miss him. Whether you have talked ot him or not, you can feel the pain. Matt La Porte was from Dumont, N.J., a sophomore. He had been an Air Force cadet at Virginia Tech. La Porte graduated third in his class and was also drum major for the school's drum and bugle corps during his senior year.
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- A story that a New Jersey Newspaper sent me over email. I thought that you guys might want to read it.
He was just 20 years old, but had already developed a strong religious
faith, deep commitment to the military and a seriousness of purpose that
belied his age. Matthew La Porte of Dumont was among those killed in the
shooting rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday morning, bringing shock and
grief to his tiny hometown.
He was inside the university's Norris Hall when the gunman struck, ending a
life characterized by hard work and a hard-won transformation, from the
"troubled" young boy he described in his high school yearbook to an
accomplished student, musician and Air Force cadet.
His parents, Barbara and Joseph, and his sister, Priscilla, a senior at
Paramus Catholic High School, mourned privately Tuesday, first with
Barbara's parents, and then at their Medford Avenue home with their parish
priest.
"At this point, there is no anger, just bewilderment," said Monsignor James
F. Bouffard of Sacred Heart Church in Haworth. "I don't think anybody can
make sense of this, and I didn't try."
La Porte was a sophomore at Virginia Tech, entering the homestretch of 12
years of military training before he realized his goal of becoming a United
States Air Force officer. After attending public elementary school and
participating in Scouting and Little League in Dumont, he enrolled in Carson
Long Military Institute, a rigorous, highly structured boarding school for
about 200 boys in New Bloomfield, Pa.
It was the beginning of a metamorphosis that La Porte described in his
senior yearbook, in which a shy and troubled seventh-grade boy "found
himself here, thinking his parents should have given him a second chance,"
but learned the importance of responsibility, self-control, friendship and
faith.
"Most boys come here because they're at a crossroads, and some boys need
smaller classes like we have here," said Lt. Col. David Comolli, academic
dean at Carson Long. "He's just one of the boys who thrived here."
He sang bass in the glee club, played cello and marched in the school band,
playing bugle and tenor drum. He spent what little free time he had lifting
weights or jogging outdoors -- with an occasional break for his favorite
"Worms 2" computer game or an AC/DC listening session. He grew into a slim
but extremely fit young man with a startlingly low speaking voice, said his
classmate Arturo Diaz of Vernon.
"He was jokey, but quiet," said Diaz. "He definitely wasn't a bully, ever.
He was always a very good guy."
By senior year, the shy La Porte was ranked third in his class and led the
band as drum major, though he was still known as a man of few words. His
dreams for the future included becoming a lawyer, said Comolli.
"I told him, 'You'd be the only attorney that never opened his mouth,' " he
said.
To commemorate his high school graduation in 2005, La Porte wrote: "As for
those who doubted me, you only encouraged me to persevere," he wrote. "And
finally, to my parents: Mom, I'm sorry if I ever disappointed you. You've
been relentless and persistent, putting your all into me. I love you. Dad, I
hope that I've become a man in your eyes, and that whatever I do in life,
you are proud of me."
La Porte signed up for a similarly demanding, structured schedule at
Virginia Tech, where he won an ROTC scholarship and majored in political
science. He was a member of the close-knit Corps of Cadets, played tenor
drum in the Corps' "Highty Tighties" regimental band, was part of the Air
Force Special Operations Preparation Team and attended class in uniform.
Fellow cadet and sophomore classmate Roy Calilung of Virginia Beach said La
Porte was "known for being laid-back."
"He was one of the most humble guys you'd ever know," said Calilung, who
accompanied La Porte in gym workouts and Corps of Cadets leadership training
programs. "It would take a lot for him to get upset. He never lost his
cool."
It was the corps commander who called the La Porte family late Monday to
tell them of Matthew's death, said Dumont Police Chief Brian Venezia.
Neighbors said they were without power or telephone services until 5 pm
Monday, after the area was hit badly by weekend storms and heavy flooding.
The La Portes were officially notified a second time Monday night by local
police, who had been contacted by the Virginia State Police, he said.
"It appears they are suffering greatly," Venezia said during an afternoon
news conference at Borough Hall. "It's just a tragedy. Words can't explain
how I feel about it, as a parent and as an American."
Dumont police guarded the family home throughout the day Tuesday, politely
containing a throng of news photographers, reporters and television camera
crews. Through a statement relayed by local police, the family thanked
well-wishers and offered condolences to families of other victims.
The La Portes have lived in Dumont for more than 20 years, surrounded by
many of the same families in the quiet, tree-lined neighborhood. Barbara La
Porte works at a Ho-Ho-Kus architectural firm, and Joseph works for a
printing company, neighbors said. They described the family as faithful
attendees of Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart, which is within walking distance.
Every week, they would sit in the fourth or fifth pew on the left side of
the church, Bouffard recalled.
Lauren Beach, 21, lives across the street and recalled playing with La Porte
as a child.
"We were all kids that grew up together," she said. "You think in a small
town like this that nothing happens. And you expect to go away to college
and have a wonderful experience."
Next-door neighbor Marie Grieco recalled La Porte's polite manner and
military bearing. He insisted on calling her 'Ma'am,' even during holidays
and summer vacations.
"I told him, 'Loosen up, Matthew -- it's Mrs. Grieco!' " she said. "He was
adorable. Just a good, good boy from a wonderful family."
He spent summers home, doing yard work outside with his dad and riding his
bicycle to his job as a lifeguard at the Cresskill Municipal Pool. Ray
Piskadlo, 30, who was the manager of the pool at that time, shivered at the
thoughts of what La Porte's last moments might have been like.
"I can't imagine what Matt must have went through in those last moments ...
those thoughts going through his head. I can't imagine what his family must
be going through," said
A former co-worker, Rosie Maldonado, 19, of Northvale, remembered La Porte
as a humorous bookworm, self-confident and with "everything going for him."
"Every day I would go to work and he would make me laugh," she said. "He
didn't need to make anyone like him. He was OK with who he was."
After learning about his death early Tuesday, she sat in a daze in front of
the television, searching news channels in vain for any information about
him.
"I felt like I couldn't breathe," she said. "like ... everything just
collapsed inside of me."
Neighbors expressed similar feelings of shock and grief when they heard his
name in news reports Tuesday.
"I had goose bumps and tears in my eyes. I put my own son in his place and
immediately thought of Barbara and Joe," said Jen Oliver, who has lived
across the street for 14 years. "They are your basic, good, happy, normal
family. It's so tragic. A normal boy. A normal family. And then this
happens."