Washington – Two soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire, Army officials said Wednesday.
The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spec. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, who were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq, on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers were initially told they were killed by enemy fire.
According to Army Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not at first suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit concluded that may be the case.
A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that the initial reports might have been wrong but that an investigation was still underway, he said. According to the Army, the unit did not include friendly fire in that report “because they were reluctant to make the claim until the unit-level investigation was complete.”
It took another month before the families of the two soldiers were told, on March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.
Rose Doyle, McPeek’s mother, declined to discuss the latest development.
“I don’t feel comfortable talking,” she said. “Whatever I say isn’t going to bring my son back.”
Wednesday’s disclosure comes on the heels of the announcement last week that nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly-fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. The military found no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former NFL player.
Three other soldiers were wounded in the incident that killed Zeimer and McPeek. There has been no indication whether they were also hit by friendly forces.
According to published reports at the time of the incident, McPeek, Zeimer and other soldiers came under attack by insurgents at their outpost in central Ramadi. A report in the Army Times newspaper said the two soldiers ran to a roof to fight back, but a shot was fired through a concrete wall near them and the impact killed them.
Army officials said they could not confirm those early reports, and they said they have no new details on what actually happened.
According to reports, Zeimer had been in Iraq only about a week and reported to the outpost just two hours before the attack.
McPeek was wrapping up his tour in Iraq.
McPeek was a member of the 16th Engineer Battalion based in Germany, and Zeimer was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga.
