A memorial display for Capt. Matthew Freeman that has been in the works for more than a year will come to life 5:30 p.m. Monday during an unveiling ceremony at the County Administrative Building in South Bryan.
 “I’m very proud of display because it does a very good job of showing Matthew from the time he was in ninth grade through the time he died and the kind of good man he was and what he did for not just for our community, but also for our country and the world — he was always thinking of others,” said Lisa Freeman, Matthew Freeman’s mother.
Marine Capt. Matthew Freeman was a Richmond Hill High School graduate who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. The road leading to the County Administrative Complex, Capt. Matthew Freeman Drive, was named in his honor.
Also during the ceremony, a special announcement will be made regarding the college scholarship created in Matthew Freeman’s name.
Lisa Freeman said Jim Leahy of Leahy’s Art Gallery in Richmond Hill helped with the display. She noted that Leahy, like her son, went to the United States Naval Academy and was able to offer insight about what types of memorabilia to put in the case, such as photographs, memorabilia and more that tells the story of the fallen Marine.
She said she got the idea for the display from several of the nurses who work in the County Health Department office inside the building. New residents would come in and ask the nurses, “Who is Capt. Freeman?” she said.
Freeman will also talk about her coming trip to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 11, when she will be the featured speaker at the national launch for “In the Shadow of Greatness,” the book that pays tribute to the midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy Class of 2002, Matthew Freeman’s graduating class.
Lisa Freeman said the book includes a chapter about her son, who is the only member of that class that was killed in Afghanistan. Though she is listed as the author, Freeman said many people worked together to write it.

Read more in the Sept. 8 edition of the News.