The OTHER George Casey
"The best memorial to a fallen soldier is the legacy he leaves behind."
The legacy Maj. Gen. George William Casey left behind is a son who will become the next Chief of Staff of the Army. George Casey Sr. was the highest ranking American officer killed in the Vietnam War.
A member of the West Point Class of 1945, Casey was 48 when he died. When you read about him on the websites dedicated to his memory and in the West Point archives, you discover an officer so respected "all expected he would be the next Chief of Staff," according to former Army Capt. Kirby Smith. "His presence was so commanding, yet (he was) disarmingly approachable to anyone."
Casey's death made national news in 1970. Here's what Frank Reynolds said about him on ABC News: "General George Casey was one of those men who had soldier written all over him . . . (he) knew war and hated it, perhaps more than the rest of us."
His website is full of tributes from former soldiers.
"This man was loved by his troops and always had our survival and safety as a top priority. General Casey was a man anyone could talk to about any problem," wrote Ronald Dula. "I was just a young kid, a Spec 4, and he took time out of his busy life to talk to and listen to me."
"Without question the finest officer I ever worked for," wrote Joseph Ward. "And he was a staunch Red Sox fan."
"As a young 19-year-old he was my image of a great leader after whom I later tailored my 24 year career," Jaime Reuda wrote. Then he described his last encounter with the general: "he gave us a pep talk and in the rain he mounted his chopper to go see the troops over the mountain in the hospital."
Socked in by the weather, Casey's helicopter flew into a ridge; everyone on board was killed. As General L.L. Lemnitzer said at Casey's funeral, "Perhaps it is fitting, if this illustrious commander had to die on the field of battle that his final mission was to visit the wounded and hospitalized soldiers of his division. Such was the man, General George Casey."
A man whose impact was felt far beyond his lifetime -- as Jaime Reuda wrote, "All these years I still stop to take a moment for him."
I don't know for sure how the Vietnam commander influenced his son, but as Gen. George W. Casey Jr. takes command of the United States Army you can be sure he'll have the lessons of the old warrior close at heart.