R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Adam D. Peak

Marine Lance Cpl. Adam D. Peak
Died February 21, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

25, of Florence, Ky.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Feb. 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following was taken from www.examiner.com of Feb. 28,2010) Gov. Steve Beshear, on Tuesday, recognized the sacrifice of a Kentucky native Marine who died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. According to the Department of Defense, Lance Cpl. Adam D. Peak, 25, of Florence, Ky., died Feb. 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device over the weekend when he was walking along the perimeter of his base during a sandstorm and stepped on a roadside bomb. His family was notified on Sunday. "When she (Peak's mother) spotted them, she didn't want to answer the door," Adam's aunt, Dixie Aemi, told Cincinnati’s FOX-19. "'Cause she knew, but the problem is having two sons there. She didn't know which one."

Adam's brother, Sean Peak, is in the same unit. They are members of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, N.C. "Their personalities were night and day, but they always had each others backs and were there together," said Robyn Peak, Adam's sister-in-law. Both men served together in Iraq in 2008, and in October of 2009, both left for Afghanistan. The two were stationed at different camps, but were expected home later this year. Sean will be escorting his brother's remains back home in a matter of days.

Friends and family posted a memorial page on Facebook, calling him, "A son, brother, friend, grandson, cousin, MARINE...An amazing friend till the end. You may be gone BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN.. RIP Adam D. Peak."

"I think that I lived in denial," said Aemi. "Me and my sister have talked about that we just thought it happens to other people it wont happen to us, and knowing that it can happen to you, I just don't want anyone else to go through this."

In little more than a week, 12 Marines have been killed in action in Helmand Province -- the most dangerous place for U.S. troops. Since Feb. 13, Marines there have been leading one of the biggest assaults since the war began, a drive to push Taliban fighters out of the canal-laced town of Marjah. Since the war began, most hard-core Taliban fighters have retreated into Pakistan during the brutal winters, causing fighting to die down until spring. But this year, Pakistani military assaults against Taliban refuges in that country and the influx of thousands of Marines into Helmand has meant no lull in the fighting.

Katie Raverty of Rabbit Hash told The Kentucky Enquirer that she met Peak when she was a freshman at Thomas More College and he was helping with new student orientation. Raverty described Peak as a jokester who "always had witty comments." "He always had witty comments and we became friends right away," Raverty said. Caleb Finch, who was in a fraternity with Peak and lived with him for awhile, described him as "a big-hearted, free-spirited, fun-loving guy who would do anything for anybody."

Sara Peak, 28, remembered her younger brother as very outgoing, but also quite private. "He wouldn't let you know his deep feelings, but he always had a line for you," she said. "He said he would never settle down, but he was like a second father to a lot of the other Marines' kids."

Peak graduated from Thomas More in 2006. Richard Shuey, a business administration professor at the school, taught Peak in three classes. Shuey said the impact of his death is being felt throughout the close-knit college community. "He was one of those really nice, clean-cut Northern Kentucky kids always polite and interested in doing well and obviously a true patriot," Shuey said.

Peak is also survived by his parents, Bruce and Diana Peak, and sister, Angela Peak, 14, all of Florence. His brother, Sean Peak, 23, is a Marine stationed overseas and will return home for the funeral services. A memorial service is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Thomas More College.

UPDATE: Funeral services for Lance Cpl. Peak will be March 1 at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Lakeside, Ky. Burial services will immediately follow at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens in Taylor Mill, Ky. Gov. Beshear has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on that day.