Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Complaints against officer keep coming
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Five local gridders to play in Big33
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Family salutes Army Sgt. Nick Casey as hero to wife and two young sons
By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
CANTON: Audrey Wendling thought there was something strange about the way her grandsons were behaving.
''They were clingy and crying,'' Wendling said of 3-year-old Nicholas Casey II and his 2-year-old brother, Curtis. ''That wasn't like them. It was as if they knew something was up, even though we had no idea.''
On Monday, nearly 6,000 miles away in Afghanistan, the boys' father, Army Sgt. Nick Casey, was killed by a suicide bomber. He was sitting with members of his unit in a police station.
Casey, 22, had been deployed to Afghanistan on Sept. 10 with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, N.C. It was the second tour of duty for the 2004 Timken High School graduate. He served 14 months in Iraq beginning in July 2006, and was scheduled to come home from Afghanistan in two months.
''The chaplain the Army sent came to see us Monday evening around 6 and said Nick and the other soldiers were in a secure area,'' said Bob Wendling, whose daughter, Rachelle, married Nick Casey in 2005.
''We were told that some of the men had taken off their body armor because it was such a secure area. What could be more secure than a police station?
''Then, some idiot walked in off the street dressed as a police officer. He had a bomb strapped to his body and it exploded.
''We have a lot of questions still unanswered. We don't know how many people were killed. We don't know what city it was in. We don't know exactly when it happened.
''The only thing we know for sure is that Nick died a hero. The boys will always know that their father died a hero.''
The two boys live with Audrey and Bob Wendling and their three other children and a granddaughter in a century-old, two-story home on 17th Street Northeast in Canton. The U.S. flag in front of the house is at half-staff in honor of their son-in-law.
Wife enlists
Rachelle Casey, 23, enlisted in the Army in May and graduated from boot camp in Fort Jackson, S.C., in July. She was home on medical leave with a broken foot for 30 days in September, but had returned to her base at Fort Eustis, Va., at the beginning of October. She flew back to Canton on Tuesday and arrived shortly after noon.
''Nick wanted to make the military his career, so Rachelle enlisted so she could do it with him,'' Audrey Wendling said.
Bob Wendling said Rachelle and Nick were perfect partners even before they enlisted in the military.
''Nick was her first true massive love,'' Bob Wendling said. ''Rachelle went to McKinley, but she took some classes at Timken where Nick was going to school.
''They met around the end of their sophomore year and they were inseparable after that. They did it all, including the prom thing, together.
''Nick was active in a lot of things at Timken. He was very athletic and he played baseball, football and bowled on Timken teams.
''We were thrilled to have Nick as our son-in-law. He was a really, really good guy. And he was so proud to serve his country.''
Bob Wendling said one of the toughest things to accept is the manner in which the incident is reported to have happened.
''You always understand that there is danger when you're in military service,'' he said. ''And Nick was in a vehicle that was following a truck that was blown up when he was on his first tour in Iraq a couple years ago.
''But it's got to be really tough ever feeling safe over there. You've got all these . . . cowards running around in those costumes, so you don't even know who your enemy is.''
Bob Wendling said the ordeal has been even tougher on Nick Casey's parents, Debbie Mitchell and Samuel Casey of Canton.
''They are simply devastated,'' he said.
Heart attack
Tuesday morning, Mitchell's mother had a heart attack, which the family believes was brought on by the stress created by her grandson's death.
''This is all so terrible because Nick was such a special person,'' Audrey Wendling said.
''He enlisted in the Air Force after he graduated from Timken, but he was only in the Air Force for a short time because he didn't feel that he was doing enough to help his country. . . . So he changed his mind and got into the Army.''
She said young Nicholas and Curtis dressed up as soldiers for trick-or-treat on Sunday.
''It was the cutest thing and we were so proud of the two boys,'' Audrey Wendling said. ''Their father was their hero and he died a hero. Nick will always be their hero. Nothing can ever change that.''
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANTON: Audrey Wendling thought there was something strange about the way her grandsons were behaving.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Posted 07:10 AM, 10/29/2008
Sgt. Casey, you will always be a hero and a great American in my eyes. To the Casey family, I'm very sorry for your loss and sacrifice.
Posted 07:53 AM, 10/29/2008
God bless the family and those little boys in this very sad time. Let's be a community and take care of these folks in their dark hour.
Posted 07:55 AM, 10/29/2008
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Casey family. My brother is a Marine and every time he gets deployed we fear for that call... what wonderful grandparents those two little boys have too... you are heroes as well for taking care of them while their parents serve our country!
Posted 07:56 AM, 10/29/2008
Lets be a community and take care of all the families in Ohio, who have lost a love one in this war!
Posted 12:06 PM, 10/29/2008
nick was my brother he was my hero OUR hero, alot of the press have been giving out wrong info and i just wat everyone to know he is very very much missed and this is sooo terrible, NICK WE LOVE AND MISS U MORE THAN EVER PLEASE WATCH OVER US<3 I LOVVE U
Barberton, OH
Posted 02:04 PM, 10/29/2008
GOD BLESS ALL THE TROOPS!!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 08:45 PM, 10/29/2008
I still would like to hear sensible reason for leaving your children and going off to war. May Nick Casey rest in peace.
R M Kraus
Akron
