Marine Cpl. Kelly "Matt" Cannan

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Cpl. Kelly M. Cannan, 21, of Lowville, New York.

Cpl. Cannan was killed as the result of the detonation of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom their unit was attached to a 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Cpl. Cannan, was one of two soldiers who died when a bomb exploded near their Humvee in Ramadi. Cannan was a 2001 graduate of Lowville Academy, 60 miles northeast of Syracuse.

Cannan had worked part-time in the maintenance department at the Lewis County Courthouse until enlisting in the Marine Corps in September 2001.

“He was close to a lot of people here,” said Frank J. Archer, a maintenance worker at the courthouse. “Matt wasn’t just a co-worker; Matt was a friend. He always gave 110 percent, no matter what he did. Matt liked everybody, and everybody like Matt.”

Cannan, who last visited the courthouse in the fall, recently volunteered for a third tour in Iraq so fellow Marines with wives and children wouldn’t have to go. “He was always thinking of someone else,” Mr. Archer said.

Marine Cpl. Kelly M. Cannan was killed in action 04/20/05.