Photos from AP and the Baltimore Sun
“Casey went home a different way…and has seen the face of God.” These are the paraphrased words of Deacon Kevin Bagley at the funeral services Memorial Day for Sergeant Casey Willis Nash. Deacon Bagley was describing the deaths of newborns and children, teens and young persons before their times, with the premise that at some undefined age we start to think that it was the correct age and time for them to die. He quoted Paul as a tentmaker describing home and the plan for going home. His declarative statement was to the effect that contrary to our ’normal’ thinking of the correct manner to go home, Casey had gone home a different way. Not that he blazed a trail for others to follow but that he defined and cut a trail for himself alone. Evidenced by the way Casey had lived his life in Essex as a civilian and by the serving of his fellow citizens, his comrades, his Army, and his nation, Casey had indeed seen the face of God.
Memorial Day in Maryland was by various moods sunny or overcast, humid, high in the upper eighties. Essex is a small working town on a branch of the Chesapeake Bay, low and with areas of marsh and waterfront. Both sides of the street to the front and the side of the Bruzdzinski Funeral Home were lined with Patriot Guard members bearing American flags. Inside, two rooms were covered along the front with red and white flower arrangements, there were various pictures of Casey in football uniform and as a senior in high school, and four poster board sized photo montages covering the scope of his life. The focal point the main room was a catafalque bearing the flag draped casket, fronted by a kneeling bench and a small stand holding Casey’s Cavalry Stetson, banded with red braid. On a table off the right side sat various citations of Casey, two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. The two rooms were filled with many standing in the halls. Thankfully there were small children present to lighten the mood, keeping the atmosphere from being unbearable.
The active military were well represented, to leaven the civilians. Present was an NCO Airman and an enlisted Army PFC. Four of Casey’s Trooper friends were present from his first tour of Iraq, two in their dress blues, two in civilian gear, one of the latter wearing his CAV Stetson. Two Members of the rear detachment at Fort Hood were present; Captain Greg Royse, the 1/12th Cavalry Rear Detachment Commander, and Staff Sergeant Kenneth Reynolds, the 1/12th Cavalry Rear Detachment S4. Nine other military men were present in uniform for the First Army as part of Casey’s detail or services, of these eleven soldiers; ten proudly wore their combat service patch on their right sleeve. Deacon Bagley was raised a military brat; his father was career military, serving in WWII, Korea, and with two tours in Vietnam. Deacon Bagley served six years in the Coast Guard Reserve, his brother retires this year as a Colonel at Fort Dix, and his sister is a Major and Chief Dietician for the Maryland National Guard.
After Deacon Bagley spoke his inspiring words for Casey, Brigadier General Cates from Chief of Staff’s Office expressed to the family the appreciation for his life and service to his country. With a call of “Attention to Orders” Captain Royse read the citations for Sergeant Nash’s Purple Heart and Bronze Star, which were presented to his mother and father. Next to speak was Casey’s uncle and last his sister. Casey’s sister Sara drew many tears when she spoke metaphorically, “Casey was the day to my night. How can I go on without my day?”
The procession to Holly Hills Cemetery was led by Patriot Guard Riders and extended for over a mile. Intermittently along the route were persons standing holding American flags and rendering their salutes. In one region both sides of the road were covered with well-wishers with flags. At the entrance to Holly Hills a ladder truck displayed a suspended American flag. From the entrance the complete route to Casey’s gravesite was lined with a mixture of policemen, firemen, boy scouts, cub scouts, and those present to decorate their own loved one’s graves.
A line of Patriot Guard Riders formed an honor guard and flag line a discrete distance from Casey’s grave, crossing the symbolic T to the gravesite. The graveside service was simple words of parting, few and well chosen, a prayer, then, “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. From dust we came and to dust we return.” The firing squad fired three volleys then a live bugler played taps. In this manner we bid farewell to a well loved and respected son of Essex and Fiddler’s Green welcomed home a new Trooper.
Listening to the casual conversation in the funeral home I gained knowledge of Casey I would not normally have gleaned. From the experiences related I have a profound respect for Casey the man, the person, the individual, and the friend. Viewing the photo displays of Casey’s life showed how full and well lived his life had been in twenty-two years. Casey’s hometown both greatly honored his life and gave him the recognition due a hero.
A new name has been added to my list of fallen comrades-in-arms, those I have lost personally to combat. Here is another name to recall at the odd hour of the day or night, to ponder what might have been, to think a thought and say a prayer for their rest and succor, to say a prayer for the well being and peace of their family. Across the generations we each mourn the additional added name until at last we are all gone, the brotherhood of the CAV, and the brotherhood of the 12th.
As the Patriot Guard Riders will tell you as you shake their hand, “Never again.”
"Never again will one generation of American veterans abandon another."
