Touching the sky

Images courtesy: Facebook

About three years ago, Lance Cpl. Adam Peak decided to aim high in life. He joined the Marines, but he wasn't alone in making the commitment. His brother, Sean Peak, joined the Marine Corps only one week apart. As WLWT-TV reports, they both served in Iraq, and had been in Afghanistan since October.

"Sean and Adam were legendary on base. They were the Peak brothers. … They didn't know them separately. They know them together," said Robyn Peak, Sean's wife and Adam's sister-in-law.

According to the Pentagon, Lance Cpl. Adam Peak was killed in combat on February 21 in Afghanistan's Helmand province. According to the WLWT article, the 25-year-old Marine stepped on an improvised explosive device planted by enemy forces.

Adam Peak's death shook family, friends, and fellow troops from Afghanistan all the way to northern Kentucky. On Saturday, hundreds in Florence lined the streets to honor the Marine as he came home in a flag-draped casket. Sean Peak returned from Afghanistan for the services, and stood at the local airport with his parents to salute his brother in arms.

Another fellow Marine who honored Peak didn't know Adam in life, but has been forever changed by the experience of his death. In a Facebook group filled with loving tributes to the fallen hero, Lance Cpl. Molly Hoffman writes about escorting him home from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

"This was my first escort assignment. My command was made aware of the need of an escort for a fallen Marine and I volunteered to do the honors. I cannot begin to thank everyone who gave support to his family [and] friends, and how much it means to Marines to see that we are not forgotten. Escorting LCpl Peak home was the most intense experience I think I will ever have. The love and pride I saw in all of your faces will stick with me forever and when I am asked I will let everyone know that Kentucky knows how to honor their fallen."

To learn more about the solemn and compassionate process of escorting a fallen Marine home, I strongly suggest watching the touching HBO film 'Taking Chance,' for which actor Kevin Bacon was awarded a Golden Globe. It tells the story of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl escorting the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps, who was killed in Iraq in 2004, back to Wyoming.

Peak also served in Iraq, and a stirring reminder of that conflict could be found in the crowd on Saturday. According to Cincinnati.com, Keith Maupin, the father of Sgt. Matt Maupin, who gave his life in Iraq in 2008, came out to show his support for the fallen Marine's family.

Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius once wrote: "Short is the little time which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain." By all accounts, Lance Cpl. Adam Peak was proud of his service. Nobody forced him, or his brother, to join the Marines. Peak simply decided to live up to his last name.