Richard "Richie" L. Matta, a retired firefighter, musician, and entertainer, died in July, 2001, of a heart attack at his home. He was 57.

Richie was born in New Orleans and lived in Slidell, Louisiana for the past 12 years. He played with the bands The Nobles and The Spades, and was an inductee in the Louisiana Music Hall of fame. He was a member of VFW Post No. 8290 in Lacombe, a former member of the Krewe of Pontchartrain, a member of the New Orleans Tarpon Club, the International Association of fire fighters, and the Police and firefighters Association.

But Richie's main claim to making a difference might have been his tour of duty in Vietnam as a US Marine Sergeant with the First Marine Air Wing at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.

According to Richie, he had a dream and saw a need. So many aviators and others throughout I Corps needed encouragement and a constant shoring up of attitude and hope. Richie knew just what to do.

He organized the very first combat Marine rock band in Vietnam, enlisted others to join his band, The Phantoms (named after the type of jet aircraft used throughout the South), and set out to change and protect his Air Wing, one Leatherneck at a time.

It was hard, painstaking work, and Richie had to become a juggler of details, schedules, and tours, as well as a Marine fighting for unit, Corps, God, and Country. It was an ominous task but as Richie once put it, "There are those right next to us who put their lives on the line daily," he once said. "I intend to make them feel as loved and wanted and happy as I can." And he did! His legacy was never equaled and his heart, which finally gave out decades later, remained the bulwark of entertainment in South Vietnam. He was nicknamed "Bob Hope with stripes." But we who remain will continue knowing him as the best that ever could be…a true Marine Corps hero.

Richie's survivors include his wife of 30 years, Aldie Loring Matta, a son, Joseph Matta, who carries on the Matta tradition of integrity, his mother, Maria Dolores Soto, a sister, Betty Jean Vasquez Panzeca, and thousands of former US Marines who remember Richie, his music and, of course, The Phantoms.

The Music won't die anytime soon. Semper Fi Richie!