Posted on 10/05/2006 4:27:46 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — He was loved. He was mourned. He was buried.
So it was Wednesday for Army Cpl. Casey Lee Mellen, who was killed in action in Iraq on Sept. 25. It was the last day of public remembrances for the 21-year-old Case, as his family called him.
Their private grief will continue, but Wednesday his wife, father, mother, sister and nephew were surrounded by many people in a comforting embrace at the Main Post Chapel and later at the committal area of the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Led by Pastor Tommy Simpson, who read passages from the Bible, and Chaplain (Maj.) Mark Jones, the soldier’s casket was brought down the chapel’s center aisle, followed by the family members, with the GI’s wife, Amber, on the arm of Brig. Gen. Carroll Pollett.
The chapel was where Case’s life was remembered.
Sgt. Michael Hernandez spoke about his buddy. He served with Case at Fort Lewis, Wash.
“He was a true dedicated soldier who fought bravely,” Hernandez said. “He brought a smile and reassurance to us all.”
Hernandez also read comments from other soldier friends. The sergeant said others described Case with the adjective “quiet.”
Mostly their buddy Case sat and listened, but other soldiers listened to him when he spoke, Hernandez said.
“For a 21-year-old, his words were sage-like,” the noncommissioned officer said one of his friends wrote.
Another wrote that Casey never questioned who he was or who others were.
Although many of his Army friends said Case was shy, they noted he could crack jokes and had a biting sense of humor when he thought it was appropriate, Hernandez said. When someone joked about the fact Case was bald, he responded his “brain was so large it pushed is hair out.”
That comment caused the congregation to laugh, first quietly and then loudly.
More than once Hernandez became emotional as he spoke, finally breaking down in tears when he spoke of the fellow soldier of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.
“On behalf of the 5/20th, we thank you,” Hernandez said as he looked at the American flag draped gray metal coffin.
Simpson read something written by Case’s older sister, Michelle.
“Case is one of a kind. I’m blessed he’s my brother,” she wrote.
Sitting in the front pew of the chapel’s sanctuary, Michelle held her son, Jason, whose middle name is the same as her brother’s — Lee.
“Case, we will miss you. Love, Michelle and Jason,” Simpson said of Michelle’s final written words.
The soldier’s father, Casey Edward Mellen of Huachuca City, said a few words.
“I never dreamt in a 100 years I would be standing before his coffin,” the elder Mellen said.
Thanking those who helped him through the continuing trauma, the father left the lectern and hugged two soldiers from his son’s unit, including Hernandez.
Simpson then put the events together.
The family coming to grips with Case’s death is hard, as it would be for anyone, the pastor said.
For his father, riding up Highway 90 has a new meaning because it was the road he brought his some home on.
On Monday, Case’s body was flown to Tucson International Airport and was then bought to the Hatfield Funeral Home in Sierra Vista. Highway 90 is the road into Sierra Vista when coming from Tucson.
The father told Simpson he didn’t know how he could drive along the highway any more.
On the way back from Tucson, the father had a different thought process, Simpson said.
“He wondered how he died and did he suffer,” the pastor said.
But a sense of calm came about the father. Finally, the elder Mellen said, “Case is home,” Simpson said.
As the cortege made its way through Huachuca City and Sierra Vista, there was a feeling of “new found respect” for the soldier by the communities’ residents.
Simpson talked about Tevye, the main character in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof”, who was complaining to God about things that were happening to him, which Tevye claimed was God’s fault, the pastor said.
However, that wasn’t true. “God watches us. God has a beautiful plan,” Simpson said.
Case’s death while defending freedom was his ultimate sacrifice, Simpson said. Coming to understand that is “acceptance (and) is surrendering to God,” he added.
Regardless of what happens in a person’s life, such as Case’s, people must act right, he said. God is a tester, not a teaser. Death comes to all — for some earlier, for others later, the pastor said.
It was Martin Luther King Jr. whose great quote about being free at last applies to Case, Simpson said.
“I say he’s free at last,” the pastor said of Case.
As a retired soldier, Simpson said there was one thing he wanted the congregation to do. Directing all but the family to stand, Simpson gave a short lesson to the non-GIs in attendance on how to salute. He then ordered the congregation to salute “this American hero.”
Right hands went up in the crowd. Some did so with military precision. Others did so hesitantly as the fingers on the right hand tried to find the right eyebrow area.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
SIERRA VISTA — Army Cpl. Casey Lee Mellen’s burial ceremony was short and full of military traditions.
His casket was taken into the committal area of the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery by members of the Fort Huachuca Honor Guard. Chaplain (Maj.) Mark Jones gave an invocation.
Pastor Tommy Simpson made a couple of comments, noting the United States is at war and the soldier was called upon to give his life for the country.
With the Huachuca Mountains in the background and white clouds floating over head, the sounds of the 21-rifle salute ripped the quietness.
Nearly 75 members of the American Legion Riders of the Post 52 of Sierra Vista, Patriot Guard Riders and Freedom Riders ringed the area, most carrying large American flags. The riders had accompanied the soldier’s remains from the Hatfield Funeral Home to the Main Post Chapel on Fort Huachuca for the funeral service and then down to the state-operated cemetery.
The 24 mournful notes of taps were played by a lone bugler from the 36th U.S. Army Band.
Casey Edward Mellen, the father of Case, as the family called the soldier, wiped tears from his eyes as the bugler’s notes faded.
Others family members did the same — Amber, Case’s young wife, from Fort Lewis, Wash.; her mother, Vicki Kirsch; the soldier’s mother, Regine McClammy; and, his sister, Michelle Hall.
On a table near the casket was a photo of the soldier and three presentation boxes that would hold folded American flags and ribbons indicating the decorations awarded to the 21-year-old soldier, as well as a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Brig. Gen. Carroll Pollett, commander of the Network Enterprise Technology Command, had earlier presented some of the decorations to the family during the chapel service.
Case, who was killed in action on Sept. 25 in combat in Mosul, Iraq, was posthumously promoted to corporal. He was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
The soldier was born on Fort Huachuca on Jan. 9, 1985, and, as his father previously said, he wanted to come home to Arizona to be buried.
The honor guard slowly removed the flag off of the casket and folded it in the traditional triangle.
Pollett handed the first flag to the elder Mellen.
Two more flags were taken from their presentation cases, and one by one they were unfolded and placed on the casket for a short time before being refolded into triangles and presented to the soldier’s wife and mother.
Amber’s mother reached over and patted her daughter’s hands as the 18-year-old widow caressed the flag.
The ceremony ended, and Case’s mother said her memories of her son were of a young boy who loved to play with his toy cars on his bed.
But there was also the time when Case was about 5 and Michelle was 7 when the pair decided to play barber shop and beauty salon, she said.
“Michelle gave him an awful haircut,” the mother said.
As pay back, Case cut his sister’s bangs.
The only solution for Case’s bad haircut was to shave it all off, the mother said, adding that may have started his fondness for wanting a bald head when he grew older.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
This is how we say Goodbye to a fallen Hero in Arizona.
PGR Was there too protect all from the Phelps Phreaks!
God bless. And thank you, son.
Godspeed, soldier.
God Bless and thank you for your sacfrice.
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