Mark A. Simpson

40-year-old Sgt. Mark A. Simpson, of Peoria, Ill., died Sept. 26, 2010, at Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents bombed his military vehicle a day earlier.  He was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood. 

He was deployed with the Fort Hood, Texas-based 584th Mobility Augmentation Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade.

Mark Simpson, a 1988 Richwoods High School graduate, enlisted in the Army in late 2004 after working a series of odd jobs in Peoria. Mark Simpson met his wife and after a brief romance, was married in 1996. The family was in Peoria until 2005 when he finished basic training. After that, they moved to New York and later to Texas.  He initially was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division before transferring to the 20th Engineer Battalion. He deployed to Iraq in August 2006 where he served in the "Triangle of Death," a then volatile region south of Baghdad.

Let us pray to God the Father, Jesus, all of the saints and all of the angels that Mark Simpson is in heaven. Let us pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen