A Company, 16th Engineers attached to C Team, Task Force 1-37 Armor

Born: 21 Aug 1986 in Hawaii

Killed in Action: 2 Feb 2007  (aged 20) in Ramadi, Iraq

Buried: Evergreen Memorial Park, Tucson,  Arizona

 

SPC Alan E. McPeek, A/16 EN, and PVT Matthew T. Zeimer, HHC/3-69 AR were both killed by friendly fire while fighting off an Al Qaeda assault on Combat Outpost Grant in Ramadi, Iraq. The attack came during our relief in place and on Matthew’s very first night at the COP. Grant was very near the boundary between the Bandits and an adjacent task force. When the enemy attacked Grant, they also engaged the adjacent unit’s positions to keep them pinned down. In the heat of the fight, a tank crew from the adjacent unit became disoriented and fired on Grant by mistake. Tragically, that round struck a rooftop fighting position and killed Alan and Matt. At the time we didn’t know it was “friendly fire;” we thought it was recoilless rifle or rocket fire and it took some time for an investigation to uncover the sad truth.

Today, McPeek rests in the Evergreen Memorial Park in Tucson, Arizona, Zeimer lies in the Dawson County Cemetery in Glendive, Montana.  Regardless of who fired the killing shot, these two young men died fighting to make the world a better place for you and I. They deserve to be honored and remembered for their selfless sacrifice. Please take time to remember them and the loved ones and comrades who carry them in their hearts to this day. Catamounts, Courage Conquers and Bandits Do Not Fail Those With Whom They Serve(d)!