On Feb 2nd, GRM founder Pete Reed was killed in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Pete was the bedrock of GRM, serving as Board President for 4 years. In January, Pete stepped away from GRM to work with another organization on their Ukraine mission and was killed while rendering aid.
This is a stark reminder of the perils rescue and aid workers face in conflict zones as they serve citizens caught in the crossfire. Pete was just 33 years old, but lived a life in service of others, first as a decorated US Marine and then in humanitarian aid. GRM will strive to honor his legacy and the selfless service he practiced.
We fully support Pete’s family, friends, and colleagues during this devastating time and have included a statement from his wife and GRM Board Vice President, Alex Potter, below.
Statement from Alex Potter, Pete’s wife
“Pete and I met on my birthday in November 2016, soon after I’d arrived in Iraq to photograph the Battle for Mosul. Wanting to put my nursing skills to use, I messaged him and he welcomed me to the GRM team. Figured I’d stay around for a couple weeks – but we fell in love almost immediately, and became each other’s right-hand-person. I loved the way he forcefully advocated for wounded civilians, the tight bonds he made with the Iraqi medics, and his magnetic personality – his ability to connect with and love literally everyone he came into contact with. We spent the next years adventuring together – across the world and back in the states. We were fierce supporters of each other’s hopes and dreams. Whenever I had doubts or worries – about life, plans, the future – from major to the most mundane, Pete would say something like “I’m right here dummy, everything is going to be okay.”
I have never met someone more selfless. Everything he did was always for the benefit of others. He was always charming, often loud, and sometimes brash, but he got shit done for those he loved, and he loved everyone in his incredibly wide circle. That big personality overlaid the fact that he was also incredibly sensitive, loving, and brave in all aspects of the word, someone who carried me and others through incredibly hard times, placing others’ needs above his own. He was passionate about his family, Marine Corps family, Camp Beckett family, and so many others I can’t name. I can’t imagine our lives without him. I loved him so much, and he loved me so well.
Pete Reed, 9 July 1989 to 2 February 2023, was from Bordentown, NJ. He is survived by his wife, Alex Potter, mother, Candy Reed, brother, Chandler Reed and his wife Bryanne and their children Anthony, Mackenzie, and Parker, his stepmother Michelle Reed, and stepsisters Courtney Reed and Danielle Newman and her husband Gary. Pete founded GRM in early 2017 in response to the Battle for Mosul, served as an infantryman in the Marine Corps in Third Battalion, Eighth Marines from 2007-2011. He proudly graduated from Paramedic school in June 2022.”
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