Army Staff Sergeant Casey Combs

Staff Sergeant Casey Combs, 28, of Auburn, Washington, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was killed on April 12th, 2007, in Miri, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during combat operations.
SSG Combs graduated from Sumner High School, where he lettered in baseball and tennis. He was working as a construction foreman at the time of the September 11th attacks. Later that week, he told his wife, Amber, that he had something to do. A few days later, an Army recruiter showed up at their house.

“He was angry that someone would try to attack his country like that, and he wanted to serve his country,” SFC Kevin Burrill said. “Combs never stepped away from a challenge or shirked responsibility.” He felt that enlisting was what he needed to do to keep everyone safe.

SSG Combs never talked much about his life on the battlefield; he felt that a good soldier “doesn’t boast; a good soldier just did his job.”

SSG Combs was survived by his wife and two children.