Buffalo serviceman fighting piracy

Matthew Reese Until recently, the word "pirates" conjured up visions of Peter Pan's nemesis Captain Hook or Johnny Depp's character, Jack Sparrow. In 2009, however, piracy is a very real threat to merchant ships and even cruise ships around the world and combating this crime has become part of the job description of some U.S. Naval vessels. The United States is spearheading an aggressive international anti-piracy task force in the waters off Somalia which was formed last February in response to a rash of pirate attacks on commercial shipping vessels. The ships are patrolling an area approxiately four times the size of Texas--more than a million square miles.

Bringing the matter close to home, Buffalo's own Matthew Reese, the son of Bobby and Barbara Reese and a 2002 graduate of Buffalo High School, is currently serving on one of the ships in the task force. Reese joined the Navy in 2004 and is a Naval Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM) in a helicopter squad based out of the Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida. He was in Kuwait for six months in 2006 and is currently on his second deployment serving aboard the guided missile cruiser, the USS Gettysburg, where he works on Seahawk helicopters.

Photo contributed by Barb Reese On May 14th an Associated Press release on Fox News reported that the Gettysburg and a Korean destroyer dispatched helicopters to aid an Egyptian ship in the Gulf of Aden which had come under attack by pirates. A specialized boarding team from the Gettsyburg also boarded another vessel suspected of serving as a "pirate mothership" -- a larger vessel which pirate skiffs use for logistical support. Seventeen suspected pirates were apprehended and taken aboard the Gettysburg for further questioning. The report also stated that a rocket grenade launcher, a grenade and eight assault rifles were confiscated.

Earlier in the month, the Gettysburg was instrumental in responding to an attack on a commercial shipping vessel flying the Phillipine flag.

Reese's wife, Jackie Boyd Reese, is another Buffalo graduate (Class of '05). They married in 2003. This winter Jackie moved back to Buffalo while her husband is overseas and she is staying with her mother, Sonja Boyd. A graduate of cosmetology school, Jackie is currently working as a stylist at Creative Cuts in Buffalo.

Jackie and Matt are able to communicate through emails and they talk by phone at least monthly. "He's gotten to see a lot of places," Jackie points out, adding, "He can't really tell me where he's at or what he's doing, but I don't worry." Before he left port, Matt's wife, mother and sister Kim Reese Rhodes (BHS Class of '98) got to tour the Gettysburg, so Jackie can picture her husband's living quarters, and even where he plays his guitar. Her face lights up, however, when she shares a final announcement, "He's due back on July 28th!"

Until then, please keep this young serviceman -- and all the others -- in prayer.