We Honor and Remember:

CPT Thomas J. Casey
Hometown: Cape May Point, NJ
Age: 32
Died: January 3, 2008 in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit: Army, Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS

Birth: Apr. 15, 1975, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, NM

CPT Thomas J. Casey of Albuquerque, N.M., was a graduate of the Albuquerque Academy and the University of New Mexico with degrees in Spanish and Portuguese. He also became proficient in the Korean language while in the military. He completed Army Airborne School and Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He then underwent training to become a military intelligence officer, taking him to his final assignment of training Iraqi police and military forces.

Thomas was a competitive swimmer in high school in New Mexico. His fitness was recognized by the U.S. Army when he received the President's Award for fitness. He had been retired 3 years from the Army after his first tour in Iraq. He re-enlisted last spring and was deployed to Iraq in the summer. He died in As Sadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit using small arms fire during combat operations at age 32.

 Burial:
Santa Fe National Cemetery
Santa Fe
Santa Fe County
New Mexico, USA
Plot: Sec S Site 355A

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THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AUTHORIZED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER, 24 AUGUST 1962 HAS AWARDED THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL WITH "V" DEVICE TO CAPTAIN THOMAS J. CASEY, UNITED STATES ARMY
FOR valorous achievement on 3 January 2008.......
"With complete disregard to his own personal safety, Captain Casey located the enemy sniper responsible and engaged him in order to provide cover fire for the attempt to recover his fallen comrade."
GIVEN UNDER MY HAND IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON
THIS 14TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2010

On Jan. 3, 2008, Army Capt. Thomas J. Casey gave his life defending the men in his unit while on a mission in Iraq. He was 32-years old. In recognition of his actions, the Army awarded Tom the Bronze Star Medal with Valor. His father and family received the medal on his behalf during a ceremony last month at Fort Riley, Kan. The Bronze Star Medal with Valor is the fourth-highest combat award given by the U.S. Armed Forces.

To be awarded the medal with the "V" device, a soldier's team members must give testimony before the Army's Decoration Board. From that testimony, and the investigative report written about the day his son died, Casey says he has a pretty good idea of what happened out in the "hinterlands" of rural Iraq.

Tom was part of a military transition team — a select group of high-ranking armed forces members whose job it was to train Iraqi regulars in how to run their own police and military operations. The unit was northeast of Baghdad when a car was seen leaving a nearby village at a high rate of speed, driving erratically. Casey said the convoy followed the car, which crashed into a ditch along a recently plowed field. Three individuals got out of the car and begin walking across the field. Major Andrew Olmsted, the unit leader, got out of his Humvee and followed them. The soldiers in the major's vehicle didn't have a good line-of-sight on Olmsted so they drove to the end of the field and turned around in order to keep the major and the three occupants of the car in sight.

"Tom pops out of the second vehicle and sees the major walking across the field. He saw his team leader take fire and fall," Casey said. "He engaged the sniper who shot the major, destroyed the sniper and gave cover fire to try and recover the major. In doing that, he gave his life."

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