Andrew Pedersen-Keel
Army Captain
Madison
(2013 - Afghanistan) 

Andrew Pedersen-Keel was born on June 8, 1984 in South Miami, Florida, but he grew up in Connecticut, living in Wallingford, Canton and Madison. He attended Avon Old Farms High School graduating in 2002. After earning a Bachelor of Science in American Legal Studies from the United States Military Academy and being commissioned as an Infantry Officer, Pedersen-Keel entered the United States Army in May of 2006. He deployed with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom IIX and IX as an executive officer in June of 2008. He was selected for a second platoon leadership position in September 2008 with 3rd Platoon, B Company. As a Platoon Leader in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, Pedersen-Keel led his platoon in over 150 combat foot patrols and three air assault operations.

In November 2009, he attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection. By September of 2010, he had graduated from the Maneuver Captains Career Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky and he began the Special Forces Qualification Course in November 2010. Pedersen-Keel graduated from his Special Forces Qualification Course in 2011 and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group where he served as an ODA Commander until his deployment to Afghanistan in August 2012. On the morning of March 11, 2013, Pedersen-Keel was concluding a patrol briefing when a 20 year-old Afghan jumped into the back of an Afghan police pickup truck, grabbed the machine gun mounted on the truck bed, and shot the Special Forces team. Andrew was mortally wounded.

Information: apkcharities.org