Army Sgt. Nicholas A. Casey

Died October 27, 2008 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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22, of Canton, Ohio; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Oct. 27 in Baghlan, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when a suicide bomber detonated explosives as he was preparing to enter a building. Also killed was Sgt. Kevin D. Grieco.

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Army Sgt. Nicholas A. Casey remembered

The Associated Press

By 10th grade, Nicholas A. Casey was starting to listen to service recruiters. Because of a lack of jobs in the area, Casey started to see the military as a way of life.

“That’s what he wanted to do,” said his father, Samuel. “He didn’t never give up on nothing that he started.”

Casey, 22, of Canton, Ohio, died Oct. 28 in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, of wounds from a suicide bomb attack. He was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.

In high school, he played baseball and football. His son was no more than an average athlete, Samuel Casey said, but he played the games the best he could.

“When he was young, he was always in his own little world,” his father said. “He was a happy kid. We had a broken marriage, but whether he was at his mother’s or father’s, he was happy.”

He also is survived by his wife, Rachelle, and two sons, Nicholas II, 3, and Curtis, 2.

His grandmother, Audrey Wendling, said the boys dressed up as soldiers for Halloween.

“It was the cutest thing, and we were so proud of the two boys,” she said. “Their father was their hero, and he died a hero.

“Nick will always be their hero. Nothing can ever change that.”