GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — 23-year-old Braden Peltier, a United States Army specialist, was shot to death in March near his base in Colorado Springs.
FOX 17 talked with Jay Peltier, Braden’s father who lives in Grand Haven, about this tragic loss.
“Every dad’s dream…Amazing young man, good heart,” Jay said. “He was just a good young man…Honorable, respectful.”
Army Specialist Exzavor Evans echoed Jay’s sentiments about Braden: “He loved everybody, brightened rooms, touched people’s hearts.”
Sergeant Ashley Smith was with Braden the night he was shot.
“He called me ‘mom’ all the time, you know, I was his mom away from home,” she said.
Sgt. Smith could not say too much because of the ongoing investigation but she did say that she held Braden’s hand during his final moments.
“I tried to do my best, but I just felt, like, helpless in that moment,” she added.
Braden recently made his final trip back home to Michigan with a hero’s salute.
“You will always have my undying love, admiration and respect for the kindness and the honor that you showed my son,” Jay said about those who put together a tribute for Braden’s return.
Meanwhile, police are still looking for the person who killed Braden, and Jay has a message for them: “I forgive you. If I don’t forgive them, I will harbor hatred in my heart for that person and I won’t let them make me the man that I’m not.”
