BIOGRAPHIES - Class of 1992

LT Matthew Titus MONEYMAKER USN

LT Matthew Titus MONEYMAKER USN
BS Mechanical Engineering 1992
Warfare Specialty Naval Aviator
Commissioned Ensign USNR 23 Dec 1992
Further Education Unknown
Spouse None

Biography

Mathew Titus Moneymaker graduated from high school in the small Central Valley farming town of Lemoore before studying engineering at the University of Southern California. He was commissioned in 1992.

Immediately after completing his work at USC, he signed up for Navy flight school in Pensacola, FL. In the mid-1990s, he was stationed for two years at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado.

Matthew T Moneymaker, who used the radio call sign "Money," was on his second deployment as a member of the Sea Control Squadron 32 (VS-32 Maulers), having spent almost three years in the squadron based out of Jacksonville Naval Air Station. On November 14, 1999, Matthew, 29, was killed along with navigator Lt Michael T Meschke when the S-3 Viking they were flying crashed into the Persian Gulf moments after launching off the carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

Obituary: - The following are articles of the incident:

September 8, 2000 -- This coming Saturday, four U.S. Navy F-18 jets from Strike Fighter Squadron 125 out of the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, CA, will do a pre-game "missing man formation" fly-over in tribute to the late LT Mathew Moneymaker, a former USC swimmer and Navy aviator who died when the plane he was piloting crashed into the north Arabian Sea in November of 1999 upon takeoff from the carrier USS John F. Kennedy. An endowed USC swimming scholarship fund has been established in his memory (senior Gabe Woodward is the first recipient). His family will do the coin toss.

US Aircrew Killed in Bahrain Crash
NOVEMBER 14, 09:53 EST
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Two members of a U.S. Navy aircraft crew were killed Sunday when their S-3B Viking crashed into the Gulf immediately after takeoff.

A statement from the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Manama, home to the Navy's Fifth Fleet, said the aircraft, which was on a routine refueling mission, went down at 12:30 p.m. The S-3B Viking was assigned to Sea Control Squadron 32 operating aboard the USS John F. Kennedy. Helicopters from the carrier recovered the crew approximately 20 minutes later,'' said the statement.

Identities were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, according to the statement.

Monday, November 15, 1999
Story last updated at 3:21 p.m. on Monday, November 15, 1999
Crash kills 2 from Kennedy
Takeoff of antisubmarine plane goes awry
By Matthew I. Pinzur
Times-Union staff writer

Two Navy aviators from Jacksonville Naval Air Station were killed Sunday when their plane crashed into the Persian Gulf moments after launching off the carrier USS John F. Kennedy near Iraq.

The plane, an S-3B Viking antisubmarine jet, was scheduled to fly a routine refueling operation, according to Pat Dooling, spokesman for Navy Region Southeast. But seconds after it was catapulted from the carrier deck, it fell abruptly into the gulf, he said.

"It was a routinely scheduled flight routine on the ship," said Capt. Bill Carey, commander of the Atlantic Sea Control Wing, who oversees all East Coast Viking squadrons. "There was nothing special about this flight."

The names of the two aviators -- a pilot and a navigator, both officers from the VS-32 Maulers of Jacksonville NAS -- were not released yesterday, as the Navy attempted to contact next of kin.

Helicopters from the carrier recovered the two men's remains approximately 20 minutes after the crash, according to a statement from the Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The cause of the crash, which occurred at 12:40 p.m. local time (4:40 a.m. EST), was unknown yesterday, Navy officials said, and it is under investigation. Public affairs officers aboard the Kennedy declined further comment.

Unlike civilian aircraft, Navy jets are not equipped with flight data recorders or cockpit voice recorders -- the "black boxes" used by civilian authorities to investigate crashes.

The Navy will rely on video of the launch and data logs from the Kennedy's launch equipment, said Carey, who is based at Jacksonville NAS.

"They've got instrumentation that will tell them how the catapult operated and things like that, which will all become part of the accident investigation," Carey said. "The carrier tapes all aircraft launches and recoveries, so those videotapes will be looked at to see if there's anything they can glean from those recordings." The Kennedy, based at Jacksonville's Mayport Naval Station, left the First Coast Sept. 22. After six weeks of exercises and other missions, the carrier arrived in the Persian Gulf Wednesday to participate in Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the southern "no-fly zone" over Iraq.

Investigation of the crash will begin with an internal Navy mishap investigation, conducted by a six- or seven-person panel led by a senior aviator on the Kennedy, Carey said. The results of that investigation are legally privileged and not released to the public, but the probe is typically followed by a public report from investigators in the Judge Advocate General Corps. That report is normally finished and released two to six months after the crash.

Despite the accident, Carey said he expected flight operations -- including those with S-3B Vikings -- to continue normally aboard the Kennedy. Officials on the carrier would not confirm or deny whether flights had continued.

"You always know things like this can happen, but you've got to try to compartmentalize things like this," Carey said. "We've got a job to do, and even though those were your close friends and squadron mates, you grieve for them and then press on to do what you have to do."

Tuesday, November 16, 1999
Story last updated at 4:51 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16, 1999
Kennedy mourns
Navy begins to assess details of fatal crash
By Matthew I. Pinzur
Times-Union staff writer

A clearer picture of Sunday's fatal Navy plane crash in the Persian Gulf emerged yesterday as Navy officials described the accident and identified the two fallen aviators.

The pilot of the S-3B Viking electronic surveillance plane was Lt. Mathew T. Moneymaker, 29, of San Diego. The navigator was Lt. Michael T. Meschke, 33, of Saginaw, Mich.

The officers -- assigned to Sea Control Squadron 32 from Jacksonville Naval Air Station -- were killed when their Viking fell into the gulf seconds after launching off the carrier USS John F. Kennedy, which is based at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville.

Navy officials said the cause of the accident was still unknown but released more details on the final moments.

About 12:40 p.m. Sunday (4:40 a.m. EST), Moneymaker and Meschke's Viking was among the first to launch for the afternoon. With roughly 265 feet of runway, it was catapulted to speeds around 135 knots before clearing the Kennedy's flight deck. That is the speed, about 155 mph, necessary for a Viking to stay airborne.

Seconds after lifting off, the plane began a routine left turn, said Capt. Bill Carey, commander of Sea Control Wing Atlantic, the Jacksonville-based command that oversees all East Coast Viking squadrons. The plane then continued rolling to the left, beyond the limits of a normal turn. The pilots ejected, Carey said, but were likely killed by the impact with the sea.

The military investigation is expected to take two to five months and will likely be released in early spring.

The aviators' squadron-mates on the carrier declined to speak with reporters yesterday, but some former colleagues spoke of them at Jacksonville NAS.

Moneymaker, who used the radio call sign "Money," was on his second deployment as a member of the VS-32 Maulers, having spent almost three years in the squadron. He was single, but a former squadron-mate, Chief Warrant Officer Don Masden, said Moneymaker was engaged and planned to marry his fiancee when the carrier returns to Jacksonville in March.

"He was the kind of guy every mother wants their daughter to marry," said Masden, who served with Moneymaker in VS-32 until this year. "He was an athletic, clean-cut, all-American kid."

When his tour on the Kennedy was over, Moneymaker had orders to transfer to Texas to become a Viking flight instructor, Masden said. Moneymaker's father was also a Navy pilot, Masden said, flying the A-7 Corsair II attack plane, which was also used on carriers.

Masden said Moneymaker -- an avid athlete who played volleyball and tennis -- was "wholesome looking" with short hair and a baby-face. "I'm not even sure if he shaved yet," he said.

Meschke joined the Maulers in the spring and had been in the Navy 13 years. Most of his early assignments were to submarines in Hawaii and Washington because he was trained as a nuclear technician, said his brother, Dan Meschke. But flying airplanes was "something he always wanted to do," Meschke said from the family's home in Standish, Mich. "He had the model airplanes, the remote planes and helicopters as a kid," Meschke said. "He always wanted to do it, and thank God he got to."

A fan of the Detroit Lions and hunting deer, Michael Meschke was excited about the deployment on the Kennedy, his brother said. But he was upset about leaving Anne, his wife of less than a year. Their first anniversary would have been next month.

The Maulers held a brief memorial onboard the Kennedy yesterday morning, which will be followed tomorrow by a service for all the aviators on the carrier. A memorial at Jacksonville NAS is planned for this week, and both families were preparing for funerals near their homes.

Airplane and helicopter flights, suspended following the crash Sunday, resumed yesterday. Carey said a replacement Viking aircraft, valued between $35 million and $40 million, will be flown to the Kennedy as soon as possible.

The carrier leads a battle group participating in Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq.

"It was a very emotional day onboard Kennedy," said Lt. Joe Walker, spokesman for the carrier. "Whenever two shipmates make the ultimate sacrifice, it's extremely tough. But we resumed flying this afternoon because we know they would want us to continue our mission and make them proud."

Posted at 12:34 p.m. EST Monday, November 15, 1999
Two Navy aviators killed in Persian Gulf crash

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- (AP) -- The Navy has identified two aviators killed Sunday when their jet crashed into the Persian Gulf moments after launching off the carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

Killed were the pilot, Lt. Mathew T. Moneymaker, 29, from San Diego, CA, and navigator, Lt. Michael T. Meschke, 33, from Saginaw, MI.

Both were members of Sea Control Squadron 32, knicknamed the Maulers and assigned to Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

The plane, an S-3B Viking antisubmarine jet, was scheduled to fly a routine refueling operation, according to Pat Dooling, spokesman for Navy Region Southeast. But seconds after it was catapulted from the carrier deck, it fell abruptly into the gulf, he said.

Helicopters from the carrier recovered the two men's bodies about 20 minutes after the crash, the Navy said.

The cause of the crash, which occurred at 4:40 a.m. EST, was not known and under investigation, Navy officials said.

Capt. Bill Carey, commander of the Atlantic Fleet Sea Control Wing, who oversees all East Coast Viking squadrons, said the Navy will rely on videotapes of the launch and data logs from Kennedy's launch equipment.

``They've got instrumentation that will tell them how the catapult operated and things like that, which will all become part of the investigation. The carrier tapes all aircraft launches and recoveries, so those videotapes will be looked at to see if there is anything they can glean from those recordings,'' Carey said.

Members of the S-3B squadron remembered their fallen aviators in an emotional ceremony Monday aboard the Kennedy. A shipwide ceremony was scheduled Tuesday.

The Kennedy left from Mayport, near Jacksonville, on Sept. 20 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.

Flier who died identified as son of Poway couple
Father is retired admiral who once led Blue Angels
By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 16, 1999

One of two Navy aviators killed during exercises in the Persian Gulf over the weekend has been identified by military officials as Lt. Mathew T. Moneymaker, the son of a retired rear admiral from Poway.

Moneymaker, 29, based in Jacksonville, Fla., was killed Sunday with navigator Lt. Michael T. Meschke when the S-3 Viking they were flying crashed moments after taking off from the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy.

He was the eldest son of Carol and Patrick D. Moneymaker. Patrick Moneymaker is a retired rear admiral who once was a commander of the famous Blue Angels precision flying team.

"Mathew touched so many people's lives," his mother said yesterday. "He kept in contact with people from college. He made a point of calling friends every year on their birthday. He loved to swim."

The young pilot was unmarried, but had become engaged to Josephine Old of Washington, D.C., just two months ago. The couple planned to marry next year.

Besides his parents, he is survived by sisters Kimberly, Sara and Rebecca and a brother, Jonathan. Grieving family members gathered at their Poway home yesterday.

Being the son of a naval officer, Mathew Moneymaker and his siblings moved frequently as children. The family lived in Japan during two of Adm. Moneymaker's tours of duty.

Mathew Moneymaker graduated from high school in the small Central Valley farming town of Lemoore before studying engineering at the University of Southern California.

Immediately after completing his work at USC, he signed up for Navy flight school in Pensacola, Fla.

In the mid-1990s, he was stationed for two years at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, where friends and colleagues mourned his death yesterday.

A memorial service is planned in the chapel there at 10 a.m. next Monday.

"Mathew really worked his way up by himself," his mother said. "Even though his father was a high-ranking officer, Mathew earned everything he got by himself. He loved his country very much."

Meschke, a 33-year-old navigator from Saginaw, Mich., was married with at least one child, a Navy spokeswoman said. Additional details were unavailable because the aviator's military records were aboard the Kennedy, she said.

Navy investigators had not yet determined what caused the crash. The Kennedy, which is based near Jacksonville in Mayport, Fla., had been conducting routine launch and recovery operations in the Persian Gulf since Thursday.

"There's not a lot of details out there right now because it's under investigation," said Mirian Lareau, a spokeswoman at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

"They videotape all of the catapults, so as part of the investigation they will be reviewing all of that," she said. "But there will probably be nothing (definitive) for at least 45 days."

Moneymaker and Meschke, members of Sea Control Squadron 32 based in Jacksonville, were taking part in refueling exercises at the time of the accident.

Naval emergency crews recovered both bodies within minutes of the accident, but wreckage from the plane remained under water as of last night, officials said.

"There is no black box like there is on a civilian aircraft," Lareau said. "They're going to try and recover (the downed aircraft), but I don't know if it's in water that's too deep."

Squadron members staged an emotional memorial service on board the Kennedy yesterday, and a second remembrance involving the entire crew was planned today.

Officials at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station also were making arrangements for a memorial service this week, Lareau said.

"The wing is finalizing that now."


More information can be found on his [Memorial Website] [Memorial Pages]

Transcribed by Major M A KUEHL USMC (Ret)

[Back to Class of 1992] [Deceased]

United States Navy United States Marine Corps

© 1997 - 2009 MAK and USC Naval ROTC Alumni League
Information last updated on: Thursday, 20-Jan-2005 14:06:33 MST
This page maintained by [Webmaster].

Neither the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps
nor any other component of the Department of Defense
has approved, endorsed, or authorized this website.