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Spc. Casey Hills remembered at memorial service
Monday,
June 29, 2009
There was standing room only in the Army chapel at Camp Virginia in Kuwait yesterday as more than 650 citizen soldiers from the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, sailors and civilians lined the walls to pay their final respects to Spc. Casey Hills. Hills was killed when his Humvee flipped over during a convoy run to Kuwait.
Hills who was assigned to 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry's Charlie Company was just seven weeks from returning home. Hills, 23, from Salem, Ill., and a former Illinois National Guardsman, was a gunner on the Humvee that was providing security for a convoy when the accident occurred in southern Iraq.
Two other American Samoan soldiers in the Humvee received minor injuries. The accident is under investigation.
Almost all of the 150 soldiers in Charlie Company are from American Samoa and those who spoke at Hills' memorial service said he quickly became part of its ohana.
Lt. Col. Mike Peeters, the 100th Battalion's commander, talked about Hills' dedication to the mission, his commitment to serve and his willingness to always go the extra mile, noting that Hills' platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Edwin Seui, said: "If there were 10 Hills available, I would take them all."
Hills wasn't supposed to be on Wednesday's convoy since he had just completed a mission into Iraq, but he volunteered to step in for another soldier who was one of 70 from the 29th Brigade studying to take the test to become a U.S. citizen.
At the end of the ceremony, 1st Sgt. Uluao Letuli, C Company's first sergeant, called out the ceremonial final roll call.
Hills was the third soldier belonging to the 29th Brigade who has died during its latest deployment, which began in November. All the deaths were non-combat related.
The brigade will begin leaving Kuwait during the middle of next month and will have to spend at least a week at Fort Hood in Texas to complete the demobilization process before coming home in August.
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