Late Marine Capt. Jack Casey honored as body is returned home to Dover

DOVER — The body of late Marine Capt. Jack Casey, who died in a helicopter crash with four other Marines, arrived home in New Hampshire Tuesday. He was transported in a procession from Pease Air National Guard Base to a funeral home in Dover, his hometown.

The stars and stripes-draped casket carrying Casey’s body arrived at Wiggin-Purdy-McCooey-Dion Funeral Home about 12:25 p.m. Tuesday, trailed in a police motorcade by his relatives and loved ones. Passersby and procession attendees were quiet as state and local police stopped outside the funeral home on motorcycles and Casey’s family entered the building.

Dozens of veterans and mourners held American flags and stepped out into the street to pay their respects as the procession rolled by. U.S. Marine Corps members stood at attention and saluted Casey as his casket was wheeled through the back entrance of the Central Avenue funeral home.

Dover Mayor Bob Carrier, City Manager Michael Joyal Jr. and city employees stood outside of City Hall for Casey’s procession on Tuesday, which weaved through the city and passed by his former schools.

A group of mourners gathered in front of the American Legion across the street, with some wearing red poppies in remembrance of the fallen Marine.

Along with her poppy, Dover resident Yvonne Prince had a Vietnam War 50th anniversary pin fastened to her sweater. Prince’s father, the late Bill Chaffee, served as a U.S. Marine and fought in World War II.

“It’s about honor and respect. It’s what he deserves,” she said of Casey.

Before Casey’s procession arrived, Prince stated Tuesday coincidentally marked the 22nd anniversary since her father’s passing.

“You know, I always try and do something to honor him today,” she said of her father. “And I just said, ‘What a perfect way to do it.’ I'd be here regardless, you know, but it's my dad’s day and it's Capt. Casey's day.”

Charlene Lamprey is the Veterans Affairs liaison for American Legion Unit 7 in Rochester, assisting veterans at every turn.

On Tuesday, she distributed the poppies and recalled their historical significance in John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields,” in which a sea of red poppies grow on a former Belgium battlefield, where almost 370 American World War I soldiers are buried, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

“I've never met this gentleman, this hero, but I have pride for him,” Lamprey said of Casey.

Wolfeboro resident and Sons of the American Legion representative Scott Douglas stood beside Prince ahead of the procession turning into the funeral home.

Douglas’ father served in both World War II and the Korean War.

“How could we not be here to support him? He's a hero for us now and the family needs the love and support,” he said of Casey. “That’s what we're here for.”

Casey remembered by local Catholic schools

Casey attended Saint Mary Academy and graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in 2015, where he participated in robotics and played on the school’s football and lacrosse teams. Tuesday's procession went by both schools, which have paid tribute to Casey since his death.

At St. Thomas, students and staff wrapped around the perimeter building as the motorcade slowly passed by with Casey's body.

In 2019, he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor’s degree in physics.

Casey commissioned in the Marine Corps on May 16, 2019 and was promoted to the rank of captain on Sept. 1, 2023. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal during his time in the service, according to the Marine Corps.

Casey died at age 26 two weeks ago during a training exercise in California, when the CH-53E helicopter crashed during stormy weather, killing all five Marines aboard. The aircraft was returning to Miramar air station in San Diego from Creech Air Force Base and was reported missing late Tuesday, Feb. 6, then was located the following day near Pine Valley.

Alongside Casey, four other U.S. Marines were identified as the victims of the incident on Friday, Feb. 9: Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21; Sgt. Alec Langen, 23; Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27; and Capt. Miguel Nava, 28. All five were assigned to Miramar’s Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Air Station Miramar in California.

The military is investigating the crash.

Casey’s family and loved ones were met by dozens of mourners at City Hall on Saturday, Feb. 10 as his family tearfully raised the U.S. Marine Corps flag alongside Mayor Carrier.

In November, another New Hampshire service member died in a military helicopter training flight. Army Staff Sgt. Tanner Grone, a 25-year-old Gorham resident, was one of five service members who was killed when a UH-60 helicopter crashed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during an air refueling training mission.

In June 2022, Marine Corps Capt. Nicholas Losapio, an Exeter High School graduate who grew up in Kensington, was one of five Marines who died in an aircraft crash in California during a training mission.

The deceased Marine’s obituary states Casey could eat Cheetos before his Corps fitness tests, then go out and run three miles in less than 18 minutes. During the Rumpass Bumpass Triathlon, as most participants donned their racing bibs, Casey sported his “beloved” Red Sox cut-off shirt.

“Flannel shirts and Birkenstocks were his trademark,” his obituary says.

Obituary: Capt. Jack Thomas Casey

Casey is survived by his wife, Emma Lindberg of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, his mother Catherine (Robinson) Casey of Dover, and his father James B Casey of Andover, Maine. He is also survived by his grandparents - Jean Robinson of Portsmouth, Janice Casey of Dover, and James Casey of Hampton - and his siblings and siblings-in-law James D. Casey and Kristen Tavares of Dover, Patrick J Casey of Topsfield, Massachusetts, Sean J. Casey and Caitlin Parsons of Nantucket, and Catherine E. Casey and Bryan DiCredico of Berwick, Maine.

Casey was predeceased by his grandfather, Richard G. Robinson, in addition to his uncle and godfather, Edward Robinson.

“Jack was an epic human being. He was bright, hilarious, and a light in this world from the moment he was born. He was the youngest of 5 and learned the precious skill of knowing when to take the high road,” his obituary stats. “His personality was a remarkable combination of drive, ambition, and intelligence, tempered with an incredible sense of fun, humility, kindness, with the unending ability to make any room he was in a happier place.”

The day he was identified, Casey was memorialized by the New Hampshire State Beach Patrol based in Hampton, where the late Marine previously worked as a lifeguard.

Visitation hours will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas High School this Friday, Feb. 23 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to Casey's obituary. His Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. at St. Theresa Catholic Church at 820 Central Road in Rye.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Marine Capt. Jack Casey: Procession returns his body to Dover