LT Matthew S. Shubzda (USNA '98)
LT Shubzda passed away on October 18th, 2002, during a training exercise in which his F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
LT Shubzda was a star quarterback and superb student at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, TX. These abilities ultimately earned him admission to the Naval Academy, allowing him to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a Navy pilot.
LT Shubzda played defensive back at Navy and was fortunate to play with his brother, Tim. On one occasion during the annual Army-Navy game, Tim and Matt were on the field together: “I was the Navy kicker and we were lining up for the kickoff against Army,” Tim said. “There were 70,000 people in Philly stadium, and I looked down the line and there was Matt.”
LT Shubzda was known for keeping very close relationships with his family. His brother Tim was in the process of earning his pilot wings at the time of LT Shubzda’s death.
For every LT Matthew Shubzda bracelet sold, proceeds will be donated to the Carry The Load Organization.
LT Shubzda passed away on October 18th, 2002, during a training exercise in which his F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
LT Shubzda was a star quarterback and superb student at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, TX. These abilities ultimately earned him admission to the Naval Academy, allowing him to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a Navy pilot.
LT Shubzda played defensive back at Navy and was fortunate to play with his brother, Tim. On one occasion during the annual Army-Navy game, Tim and Matt were on the field together: “I was the Navy kicker and we were lining up for the kickoff against Army,” Tim said. “There were 70,000 people in Philly stadium, and I looked down the line and there was Matt.”
LT Shubzda was known for keeping very close relationships with his family. His brother Tim was in the process of earning his pilot wings at the time of LT Shubzda’s death.
For every LT Matthew Shubzda bracelet sold, proceeds will be donated to the Carry The Load Organization.
LT Shubzda passed away on October 18th, 2002, during a training exercise in which his F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
LT Shubzda was a star quarterback and superb student at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, TX. These abilities ultimately earned him admission to the Naval Academy, allowing him to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a Navy pilot.
LT Shubzda played defensive back at Navy and was fortunate to play with his brother, Tim. On one occasion during the annual Army-Navy game, Tim and Matt were on the field together: “I was the Navy kicker and we were lining up for the kickoff against Army,” Tim said. “There were 70,000 people in Philly stadium, and I looked down the line and there was Matt.”
LT Shubzda was known for keeping very close relationships with his family. His brother Tim was in the process of earning his pilot wings at the time of LT Shubzda’s death.
For every LT Matthew Shubzda bracelet sold, proceeds will be donated to the Carry The Load Organization.
From MyPlainView:
“Navy pilot Matt Shubzda was living his dream, flying fighter jets for the Navy.
"We were really happy for him; he was doing what he wanted to do," his father, James Shubzda said.
But his fighter jet collided with another jet during a combat exercise Friday off the coast of California and is feared dead.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday called off the search for Shubzda, 27, a Dallas native, and three other pilots involved in the crash. Though no bodies have been found, his father was prepared for the worst.
"We already know what's happened to him. We know he's dead," James Shubzda of Sachse, said in Sunday's editions of The Dallas Morning News.
Matt Shubzda, a former quarterback at Garland's Naaman Forest High School, married Kim McSwain in June.
"He loved football, and it's one of the reasons he went to the Naval Academy," the elder Shubzda said.
His son also received appointments to attend the Air Force Academy and West Point but declined the honors so he could be in the Navy.
"He thought his chances of getting to fly were better in the Navy," his father said.
James Shubzda, a sergeant with the Dallas Police Department, said he was initially unfazed Friday when some friends on the force called with the news of two Navy planes crashing.
"Then someone told me it was a Super Hornet squadron, and I knew," James Shubzda said. "We were all crushed."
James Shubzda said Navy officials notified the family Friday night that his son, a lieutenant, was among the four missing pilots.
On Saturday evening, the Coast Guard called off the search because of sea and weather conditions and because of the amount of time that had passed since the pilots were reported missing.
The Navy identified the other missing officers as Lt. Stephen R. Nevarez, 31, a weapons systems officer from New Orleans; Lt. Joel A. Korkowski, 30, a pilot from Phoenix; and Lt. Stephen N. Benson, 26, a weapons system officer from Virginia Beach, Va.
Shubzda's family, including his mother, Patti Shubzda; his brothers, Lt. j.g. Tim Shubzda, a Navy pilot-in-training, and Drew Shubzda, a senior and football player at Naaman Forest; and his sister, Sara Shubzda, a 2001 Naaman Forest graduate, had planned to fly to California on Saturday to await word.
Shubzda played football for four years for the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1998 and received his pilot wings in March 2001. He had earned a Navy "E" award for bombing accuracy during advanced strike training.”