From WCTV6.COM
Marine Killed in Motorcycle Crash
Ilyssa Trussel
A family looking forward to spending the holidays with their loved one home from Africa is now planning a funeral.
Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Schommer of Vero Beach was killed Monday when he crashed his motorcycle into an SUV. It happened during rush hour on Capital Circle.
Police say Schommer was speeding at the time of the crash. They're hoping this accident teaches other motorcyclists a lesson about safety.
"With a motorcycle the biggest things are to get proper training, slow down, follow the speed laws and to make sure you wear a helmet," says SGT Steve Gauding with the Tallahassee Police Department.
Police say Schommer was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Schommer was a graduate student at FSU and a Marine who earlier this year returned from duty overseas.
From FSU News
FSU Grad and soldier killed in Iraq
Col. Wood died in explosion, promoted posthumously
Shahzeen Lakhani
November 14, 2005
A Florida State University alumnus and U.S. Army soldier, who was killed in an explosion in Baghdad and was promoted posthumously, has become the highest-ranking casualty of the war, according to the Pentagon.
Col. William W. Wood, 44, of Panama City, died Thursday. According to the Defense Department, he was guiding security operations after an explosive device blew up when another bomb went off.
Wood was a lieutenant colonel at the time he was killed. The Army posthumously promoted him to colonel, Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said.
"It validates his career," said Wood's half brother Donald H. Hansen of Panama City. "It's proper for the Army to do what they've done."
Wood enrolled at FSU in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and graduated in 1984 with a political science degree. He then went on to active duty. He reportedly enjoyed golf, riding quarter horses and was a devoted Seminole fan.
"He thought the Army was the best thing since sliced bread," said his father, Jimmy Wood, who retired from the Air Force.
Wood was assigned to the Army National Guard's First Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, Modesto, Calif. Wood was depicted as a model soldier who firmly supported the war in Iraq by his friends, family and comrades.
"He said the news coverage does not portray the real picture, that there were numerous successes over there," Hansen said.
Wood sent his last e-mail to his father Sunday, four days before he was killed. He explained his battalion's participation in the constitutional referendum, saying he had been personally escorting ballot material until the morning of the vote.
"The Iraqis are very happy they got the chance to influence the form of government," Woods wrote.
Wood's father depicted his son as a "people person" and said he loved the Army. Wood's wife and 13-year-old daughter Rachael, as well as his parents Jimmy and Frances, were all grieving where Wood was stationed in Fort Stewart, Ga. He had taken over the California Guard unit after entering Iraq.Wood was sent out to Iraq in January for a 12-month tour. It was his first deployment to Iraq.
"I don't think anybody wants to do it, but it was his duty and he was willing to fulfill it," said Hansen, who described his brother as selfless and patriotic.
Wood will be buried in Barrancas National Cemetery at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
