Casey L. Mellen
Friday, September 29 2006 @ 07:41 AM EDT
Contributed by: tomw
Arizona Daily Star -- Army Cpl. Casey L. Mellen's personal page on the Internet site MySpace.com features a countdown ticking away the year and four months he had left to serve in the Army.
But the 21-year-old infantryman from Huachuca City never made it to the end of his countdown. He died Monday in Balad, Iraq, from wounds suffered during combat operations in Mosul, the Army said Thursday.
Mellen was the 18th service member with ties to Southern Arizona to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"He was doing military service for an important cause. Fighting for . . . freedom, whether it's yours or another's, is always important," his father, Casey E. Mellen, said Thursday. "I can't think of anything that would be as important as that."
The younger Mellen was born at Fort Huachuca. His father was a sergeant who worked in Army communications.
Casey grew up in a normal family, his father said, with his mom, dad, sister and their dog, even though Casey was a cat person.
The Mellen family later moved to Germany, where Casey went to school and played soccer.
The family moved back to Arizona in 2000, and Casey graduated from Omega Alpha Academy School in Sierra Vista.
He joined the Army in September 2004 after attending Cochise College for one semester, his father said.
He was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington in February 2005, said Joe Hitt, a Fort Lewis spokesman.
Casey was an infantryman in the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Hitt said. Strykers are multi-wheeled personnel carriers.
Even after discussing the positive and negative aspects of the service with his father, Casey decided he wanted to join the Army, his father said.
"He enjoyed it, he was adventurous. He was excited about deploying, until he got married, which kind of changed his mind," his father said.
Casey was close to his father and would call him whenever he could, Mellen said.
When officers came to his door late Monday to notify him of his son's death, Mellen said he couldn't believe what was happening.
"I thought they were at the wrong house," Mellen said. "For some reason I thought they were ROTC. It was a complete surprise."
Casey was in Iraq for four months. He and his wife, Amber, 18, had been married for less than a year.
On his Internet site, Casey wrote that his goal for the year was "to stay alive." Another entry said simply, "Can't wait to come home."
Hitt said the young soldier received the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army's service ribbon.
At his funeral, Casey will receive a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and an Army commendation medal, his father said.
A memorial service is planned for Tuesday at Fort Lewis, Hitt said.
Casey's funeral with full military honors will be at the Southern Arizona Veterans Cemetery in Sierra Vista, said his father, but the family has not set a date.
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Mellen was the 18th service member with ties to Southern Arizona to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.