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Today is Memorial Day 2009...a day when all Americans remember all of our comrades in arms that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our Country. More than 41 years ago, Michael Allen Casp, a loving son, brother and uncle; a good friend and classmate; and, most of all, a soldier who loved his fellow troopers, made that ultimate sacrifice for all of us.</p>
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<em>Michael Allen Casp</em> was born in Rochester, PA, the only son of Mike and Olga Casp. Mike was raised in Beaver County, where his father worked for J&L Steel and his mother was a dedicated homemaker.</p>
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As a baby, he received the nickname “Sluggo” because of his pug nose, a charac­teristic of a then-popular, comic strip charac­ter. Growing up, Mike was always interested in playing ball—football and baseball. As a youngster, he collected baseball cards and set up teams and games. Often, he could be heard announcing imaginary games from his bed­room, and his family thought he would grow up to be a sportscaster. He was always playing some kind of ball with the neighborhood kids. He played Little League baseball and Midget Football. Growing up, he spent his summers on his grandparents’ farm near Lake Erie.</p>
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At Beaver High School, Mike was a hard hitting halfback and fullback. He helped his team compete for the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) section championship. In baseball, he was a long ball hitter and played in the outfield. His school team won the WPIAL section cham­pionship four years in a row. He also played Junior American Legion baseball in the sum­mer. One local newspaper said that the other teams breathed a sigh of relief when Mike left for West Point.</p>
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He was also a member of the National Honor Society and had 59 scholarship offers, including one from Navy. Seventeen years old when he left for West Point, Mike entered on 1 Jul 1958 as a member of the Class of 1962. While at the Academy and a member of Company H-1, he managed to be involved in the Debate Council, Handball Club; and Dialectic Society. His <em>Howitzer</em> write-up sum­marized Mike’s cadet experiences best:</p>
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<em>Casper was known most for his aggressive­ness and grim determination to win on the </em><em>gridiron...</em><em>His abundance of self-confidence, </em><em>along with his humility, will carry him a long way after graduation.</em></p>
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Mike played fullback and linebacker before settling in as the team’s left guard. During the 1960 Army-Navy game, Mike made 15 tack­les and led all players in that category. Because of these traits, Mike, wearing number 62, was elected by his teammates to become the 71st Captain of an Army football team. When he was elected Captain of the Army team, his hometown held a breakfast and a parade in his honor. Under Mike’s leadership from his posi­tion at left guard, the 1961 team completed the season with a 6-4 record that included a major upset of Penn State on the road.</p>
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Mike was commissioned in the Field Artillery and, after the pre-requisite Army schools, stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC; with a Military Assistance Command—Viet Nam Advisory Team in Dalat; and with the 1st Armored Division at Ft. Hood, TX. He then returned to South Viet Nam and com­manded A Battery, 2-9th Field Artillery in the Central Highlands. His former bat­tery executive officer, Dennis Dauphin, writes, “Words cannot express the admi­ration and respect I had for Mike Casp. He was a natural leader and allowed his officers and NCOs to do their jobs and prove their worth. Mike was never a “ring-knocker” and never mentioned the honor of serving as the captain of the West Point football team.”</p>
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On 14 Nov 1967, within days of com­pleting his second combat tour in South Viet Nam and while serving with the 4th Infantry Division as the Assistant S-3 of the 3rd Brigade, Mike was killed in action near Tam Ky when his command and con­trol helicopter was shot down while he was coordinating fire support for an Infantry unit. For his heroic actions, Mike received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He also was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and the Purple Heart. In a letter to Mike’s family, his former battalion commander wrote, “He al­ways performed his duties as an officer in a superb manner . His loss was a severe blow to us, and we will long remember him.”</p>
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After his funeral in Beaver County at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (which he had attended since he was four years old), many relatives, friends, and former coaches took an overnight train to Washington, DC, for Mike’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery. The soldier sent from Arlington to drive the mourners was amazed at how many people there were. They initially had sent a se­dan but had to order a military bus. Mike was buried with full military honors, surrounded by those who loved him.</p>
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Mike’s legacy lives on in Beaver. After his father died in 1991 and his sister, Jo Ann, was closing up the old homestead, much of Mike’s sports memorabilia was given to the local chil­dren who had looked up to Mike as they were growing up.</p>
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He is still greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. Well done, Sluggo. Be thou at peace.</p>
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Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13</p>
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<em>—JoAnn Matthews, sister and Tom Simcox, classmate</em></p>