Fallen Fairhaven Marine’s Love Memento Stolen

A poem found with a fallen marine from Fairhaven was from his truck on Sunday. 19 year-old Lance Cpl. Matthew Rodriguez died in action in Afghanistan last December. The laminated poem was found in his helmet and then given to his family.

Rodriguez' fiance, Julia Tapper, shared the poem with high school sweetheart while he was out on duty as a memento. However, Matthew's truck had been parked in New Bedford when someone broke into the truck and stole Tapper's purse containing his iPhone and the poem.

The entire family has a copy of the poem, however these don't replace the sentiment of the original. While break-ins and theft isn't anything new, this situation is different. The family doesn't care about the broken window or the stolen purse and iphone. All they want is the laminated poem.

While it might be unlikely to retrieve, Fun 107 wants to at least try to get Matthew's poem back to the family. If you have any information towards finding it, please contact New Bedford Police, or if found, you can mail the poem here to Fun 107 or to the family if you can.

Our goal isn't to find and punish anyone, but to get this memento back to Rodriguez' family and nothing else.