The last time Spec. Casey Sheehan talked to his parents, he mentioned Kuwait’s sweltering heat and said he was on his way to mass. A deeply religious soldier, Sheehan took his Bible and rosary on his Iraq deployment and hoped to serve as a field minister.
Sheehan, 24, of Vacaville, Calif., died April 4, when his convoy was ambushed outside of Baghdad. The specialist, who was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, had been in Iraq fewer than two weeks when he was killed.
Sheehan, the oldest of four children, was shy and quiet. But what he had to say was generally funny or thoughtful, said his father, Pat.
Growing up, Sheehan served as an altar boy, was active in his church youth group and spent weekends maintaining a ranch given to his parish. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and he eventually earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
He enlisted in 2000 and served as a Humvee mechanic. After his death, his parents learned he had volunteered to go on the convoy in which he was killed to help rescue a group of soldiers, said his father.
“That’s typical of his whole life,” said his father. “He wanted to help and quietly did his job and made a difference.”
