An honor guard stands at present arms after firing a 21-gun salute during a memorial ceremony for three fallen military policemen at the Bamberg, Germany, community chapel Tuesday. The MPs, Sgt. Brandon A. Parr, Sgt. Michael C. Peek and Sgt. Ashly L. Moyer, were from the 630th MP Company. (Mark St.Clair / S&S)
An honor guard stands at present arms after firing a 21-gun salute during a memorial ceremony for three fallen military policemen at the Bamberg, Germany, community chapel Tuesday. The MPs, Sgt. Brandon A. Parr, Sgt. Michael C. Peek and Sgt. Ashly L. Moyer, were from the 630th MP Company. (Mark St.Clair / S&S)
Members of the Bamberg, Germany, military community pay their respects to three fallen sergeants during a memorial ceremony for three fallen military policemen at the Bamberg, Germany, community chapel Tuesday. (Mark St.Clair / S&S)
A bugler plays taps during a memorial ceremony for three fallen military policemen at the Bamberg, Germany, community chapel Tuesday. (Mark St.Clair / S&S)
BAMBERG, Germany — The Bamberg military community packed the chapel Tuesday to pay its respects to a team of fallen military policemen.
The three, Sgt. Brandon A. Parr, Sgt. Michael C. Peek and Sgt. Ashly L. Moyer were killed March 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle while they were on a combat patrol in Baghdad. All were from the Bamberg-based 630th MP Company.
The noncommissioned officers were also honored in a ceremony Saturday in Iraq.
“Whether you just knew them a little bit, knew them great or heard about them through reputation, the only thing you ever heard was that they were an amazing team,” said Capt. John Chiappone, 630th rear detachment commander.
As a three-man MP team, the sergeants — Peek the leader, Parr the gunner and Moyer the driver — did everything together, whether out patrolling streets in Iraq’s capital or relaxing off duty. “The three of them as a team is what you envision when you envision an MP team,” Chiappone said.
Born in Bakersfield, Calif., Parr, 25, joined the Army in August 2003. After training he was stationed in Germany with the 630th. He had previously completed a yearlong deployment to Iraq, returning home in April 2005. He had recently re-enlisted in Iraq.
Remembered as a loving father and husband, Parr is survived by his wife, Shannah; 4-year-old son, Nicholas; and mother, Teota Dangel.
Also on his second Iraq deployment, Peek, 23, had also spent time in Kosovo. The Maryland native had been a soldier since 2002, enlisting after he graduated high school.
Peek is survived by his father, Floyd; mother, Catherine Jordan; brother, Justin; and fiancee, Melanie Link. Peek and Link were to be married in one month, according to Peek’s MySpace page.
On her first Iraq deployment, Moyer had previously volunteered to serve in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, having enlisted in the Army Reserve after graduating from Emmaus High School in Pennsylvania in 2003. She came on active duty in December 2005.
Also soon to marry, Moyer’s fiance, Spc. Jacob Wells, is currently deployed. The 21-year-old is also survived by her father, Michael, mother, Jane L. Drumheller, and a sister. She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
Although the ceremony was held in Bamberg, portions of the 630th are also located in Schweinfurt and Ansbach. Peek, Parr and Moyer were from Kitzingen, and deployed before the community deactivated.
Due to rotate home in June, the losses were the first the 170-strong 630th has suffered during its present deployment.
