Marshfield Man Killed While Fighting for Ukraine Honored Wednesday

Thursday, July 13th, 2023 -- 1:01 PM

(Karen Madden, Marshfield News Herald) A Marshfield man who died earlier this year fighting for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine was honored Wednesday with the naming of a police boat in the country's capital.

According to Karen Madden with the Marshfield News Herald, the Kyiv Region Police named a police patrol boat after Andrew Peters, who was killed while fighting with the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine against the Russian military, who began their invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The Kyiv Region Police dedicated the boat on July 12, which was the day Peters would have turned 29. John and Heather Peters, Andrew's parents, issued a statement for the ceremony. "Our entire family is extremely proud of Andrew's bravery and selfless sacrifice to defend the people of Ukraine. We are thankful to the Ukrainian Government for allowing our son the honor and privilege to serve and die for such an honorable cause. "

Andrew Peters died Feb. 16 doing what he wanted to do, according to the news release from a New York-based communications company, the Dilenschneider Group. He was a U.S. Army veteran who served a tour in Afghanistan in 2014.

"Andrew had a strong sense of what was right and wrong," John Peters said in an email to the Marshfield News-Herald shortly after Andrew Peters's death. "He felt the need to use his prior military combat skills to help the Ukrainian people fight and liberate their country."

The boat named after Andrew Peters was one of five boats donated by American author Mitzi Perdue. The 82-year-old war correspondent decided to auction off her historic emerald engagement ring to benefit Ukraine after her second trip there, according to the news release.

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