[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2449-2450]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Lance Corporal Adam D. Peak

  Mr. President, I wish to speak about a young man from my State who 
gave his life while serving this Nation in uniform. LCpl Adam D. Peak 
of Florence, KY, was tragically killed by an improvised explosive 
device in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on February 21, 2010. A member 
of the U.S. Marine Corps, he was 25 years old.
  For his service in uniform, Lance Corporal Peak received many medals, 
awards, and decorations, including the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the 
Iraq Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War 
on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO International Security 
Assistance Force Medal.
  Born on August 30, 1984, Adam was a native of Florence, where he grew 
up with a reputation as a performer who made his friends and family 
laugh with his quick wit. He and his older sister Sara would quote 
movie lines back and forth to each other in a blink of an eye, and Adam 
especially liked to entertain his younger sister Angela. ``Adam was 
sarcastic with a dry sense of humor, and could get people to laugh all 
the time,'' says Adam's mother Diana. ``I guess what I loved most about 
him was his love for his sister, who was born with Down Syndrome. He 
had unlimited patience with her, and I knew that when his dad and I 
were gone, he would take care of Angela.''
  Although Adam did not get a chance to have a family of his own, he 
loved kids. ``He was like a second father to a lot of the other 
Marines' kids,'' says his sister Sara. Adam's mother certainly agrees. 
``He loved kids and

[[Page 2450]]

thought that someday he would have a large family,'' she says. ``He 
played Santa every year for his friend's family, and the kids loved 
him.''
  Adam attended Boone County High School, where he graduated in 2002. 
He then attended Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY. In school, 
he was active in the Alpha Delta Gamma fraternity, the Saints Club, the 
Education Club, and the Villa Players Theater Club. His mother Diana 
particularly remembers Adam's interest in theater. ``He developed a 
love for the stage while in college at Thomas More,'' she says. ``He 
started out behind the scenes, but his friends got him on stage for a 
play and he loved it. He appeared in many productions while at 
school.''
  Richard Shuey, a business administration professor at Thomas More, 
taught Adam in three classes. Adam ``was one of those really nice, 
clean-cut northern Kentucky kids,'' Richard says. ``Always polite and 
interested in doing well, and obviously a true patriot.''
  One of Adam's fraternity brothers, Caleb Finch, remembers him as ``a 
big-hearted, free-spirited, fun-loving guy who would do anything for 
anybody.''
  After graduation from Thomas More, Adam enlisted in the Marine Corps 
in July of 2007. By December of that year he had been promoted to the 
rank of lance corporal. Adam's younger brother Sean enlisted in the 
Marines as well, and the two brothers served together in the same unit 
in Iraq in 2008. ``Their personalities were night and day,'' says Robin 
Peak, Adam's sister-in-law. ``But they always had each other's backs 
and were there together.'' In October 2009, Adam and Sean were deployed 
to Afghanistan, both as members of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine 
Division, Two Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Lejeune, 
NC. Sean accompanied his brother back home for burial, and Adam was 
laid to rest with full military honors in Taylor Mill, KY.
  Mr. President, we are thinking of Adam's loved ones today, including 
his parents Bruce and Diana, his brother Sean, his sisters Sara and 
Angela, his sister-in-law Robin, and many other beloved family members 
and friends.
  The loss of LCpl Adam D. Peak is tragic. Indeed, it is only 
appropriate that this Senate pause to honor his service and recognize 
his sacrifice.
  I hope his family can take some comfort from the fact that both the 
Commonwealth of Kentucky and the country as a whole are grateful for 
and honored by the heroism and courage Adam displayed in his entirely 
too short life. The example he set for his loved ones and his country 
will not be forgotten.
  I yield the floor.


                       reservation of leader time

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time 
is reserved.

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