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PrintOne of the young Pennsylvania Army National Guardsmen lived with his mother in McKees Rocks and enjoyed playing uncle to his large family. The other was a new husband and father from Armstrong County.
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Associated Press Left: Spc. Mark J. Kasecky Right: Spc. Carl F. Curran II Click photo for larger image. |
A third member of the Guard's 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery, Spc. Robert Emerick of Monroeville, suffered bruises in the incident but is expected to return to duty, said Maj. Grey Berrier, executive officer of the battalion, headquartered in New Castle.
"It's something you just don't expect," said Curran's mother, Manuela Curran of East Brady. "He believed that what he was doing was right, that we were over there for the right reasons."
Kasecky and Curran were among the battalion's weekend soldiers, accustomed to civilian life most of the year but mobilized Dec. 18 as part of the Army's need for military police in Iraq. Their original training was in support of artillery work, but they and about 400 other battalion members took six weeks of special police training at Fort Dix, N.J., early this year to prepare them for security duty.
They arrived in Iraq Feb. 18, and their deaths marked the first fatalities since World War II for a battalion created during the Civil War, Berrier said.
They were among 1,300 Pennsylvania National Guard members stationed in Iraq.
"This is a sad day for the entire Pennsylvania National Guard family," said Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, adjutant general of Pennsylvania.
Kasecky joined the Guard in November 2002. He had attended Sto-Rox High School without graduating, and obtained a General Educational Development certificate in April 2002 from Connelley Technical School.
He was described as an upbeat young man who loved sports and delighted in the 11 children of his five siblings. He lived with his mother, Emily Arnold. Family members said Kasecky was supposed to return home on leave last month, but it was canceled due to intense fighting.
His regular National Guard service was at the Hunt Armory in Shadyside; Curran was part of the Oil City-based Charley Battery.
Curran joined the National Guard before graduating from Karns City High School in 2000, in a special program for high school juniors.
He comes from a military family. He spent part of his childhood in San Diego because his father, David, was in the Navy for 20 years before resettling in the Bradys Bend area. He has a sister in the Navy who now serves aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson and a stepbrother serves in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Curran was a well-liked employee of the Butler Days Inn-Conference Center, where he worked for about two years in the setup crew for the banquet department and was still an employee. He worked previously at the Staples office store at Moraine Point Plaza.
"Anything you needed, he was immediately there," said Georgie Lang, his supervisor as the Days Inn's catering manager. "He worked all over the hotel, and we really miss him. He was the kind of guy to whom I could say, 'This, this and this needs to be done,' and you knew you didn't have to worry about it."
She said Curran always spoke positively, about the military and anything else.
His last letter from Iraq to the hotel mentioned he was staying at a palace.
"He said everything there was really beautiful. ... He was the kind of kid that probably wouldn't tell me anything that he knew would upset me."
Curran and his wife, Dianna, were married on Dec. 5, one day before he turned 22. The couple have a 4-month-old daughter, Lillian Michelle, who was born eight weeks premature.
"I have mixed feelings," Curran's mother said yesterday. "But I really feel that we're in there doing the right thing. These people over there are thinking that terrorism is the way to go, and we need to have our military over there to stop them from bringing it here."
