School news

University of Maine

ORONO – Family, friends and members of the University of Maine’s Army ROTC Department remembered one of their own in a quiet ceremony on Nov. 10 in the Memorial Union.

A shadow box displaying the uniform of UM graduate and former ROTC cadet Matthew Coutu, a second lieutenant when he was killed June 27, 2005, in Baghdad, was ceremoniously unveiled before being moved for permanent display in the Army ROTC hallway inside the Memorial Gym on campus.

Coutu was shot by an enemy sniper while on patrol in Iraq.

He was the son of Donna M. (Matarazzo) Coutu-Freeland of North Kingstown, R.I., and Michael A. Coutu of North Hampton, N.H.

Born in Freehold, N.J., Coutu moved to Lake Forest, Ill., in 1994 and to North Kingstown, R.I., in 2002. He graduated from Lake Forest High School in 2000, where he was captain of the football team and also competed in track, wrestling and shot put.

A history major, Coutu graduated from UM in 2004 with a 3.4 GPA. As a senior in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, Coutu received the organization’s highest honor, the George C. Marshall Award. He was assigned to the 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas.

In addition to his parents, Coutu is survived by his brother, Derek Coutu of Norwood, Mass.; a half-brother, Andrew Coutu of North Hampton, N.H.; a half-sister, Holly Coutu of Canterbury, Conn.; and his grandmothers. He was predeceased by his grandfathers.