Columbus Dispatch -- Only two months ago, Army Capt. Matthew Mattingly had gotten engaged. Mattingly, who was making a career of the Army, had already served in Bosnia and Iraq, and he was about to be sent back to Iraq a second time.

But the wedding will never take place.

Mattingly, who grew up in Reynoldsburg, died Wednesday during combat in Mosul, Iraq, when gunfire hit the OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter he was in, the Department of Defense said yesterday. The 30-year-old paratrooper had commanded Troop A of the 1 st squadron, 17 th Cavalry Regiment of the 82 nd Airborne Division.

Family members were in mourning last evening, including his father, Dennis Mattingly, who now lives in Beavercreek, Ohio.

He remembered a son who graduated from Reynoldsburg High School and then Xavier University, a son who loved flying "ever since he was young."

It was unclear last night whether Matthew, a pilot, was at the controls of the helicopter.

Matthew was athletic, his father said, and enjoyed softball and football as he was growing up. At Reynoldsburg High, he was on the football team, said former Principal Dan Hoffman.

"He was a top-flight kid, the kind of kid you would want defending your country," Hoffman said last night. "A solid kid from a solid family."

Upon graduation from Xavier in 1998, Mattingly received a commission and went into the Army.

"He was turning into career Army," his father said.

He completed the Aviation Officer Basic Course in 1999 and in 2002 served in Bosnia as part of the NATO stabilization force with the 25 th Infantry Division. In 2003, he was sent to Iraq with the 4 th Infantry Division. Mattingly was assigned to the 82 nd Airborne in 2004.

This July, he had been back to Beavercreek, the community east of Dayton where he now lived, and had just gotten engaged to a captain in the Air Force, Mr. Mattingly said.

Already in his career, Mattingly had earned the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and many other service medals, according to the 82 nd Airborne.

In a written statement, Col. Kelly Thomas, the 82 nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade commander, praised Mattingly.

"He was a professional warrior, a combat veteran and a caring troop commander," Thomas said. "He served his squadron and nation doing what he did best, leading and caring for his troopers."

Capt. Mattingly’s body is being flown to Germany, his father said, en route to Ohio. Memorial service plans are pending, according to the 82 nd Airborne.

Besides his father, Mattingly is survived by his mother, Randi Mattingly of the East Side, and his younger sister, Michelle Mattingly of Canal Winchester.