John O. Casey This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Welcome to the American Legion - Department of New Jersey

   www.njamericanlegion.org/offic - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/13/2006   Last Visited: 5/13/2006

   John Casey

2. 2. Largest Veterans Organization in the World | Public Relations | Press Releases

   www.legion.org/?section=pub_re - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/19/2004   Last Visited: 3/23/2004

   WASHINGTON, February 19, 2004 - John O. Casey of Waxahachie, Texas, is a busy man. As a Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service worker at the Dallas VA Medical Center, the 81-year-old Casey doesn't earn a penny, and he doesn't seek the limelight. Indeed, the limelight of the nation's largest veterans organization found Casey as he has been selflessly donating his time to helping veterans.
   
   American Legion National Commander John Brieden of Brenham, Texas, on March 8 will present Casey The American Legion 2004 VAVS Hospital Worker of the Year Award here during the 2.7-million member Legion's 44th Washington Conference.
   ...
   Casey is one of nearly 7,000 American Legion volunteers who collectively donate more than 960,000 hours annually to VAVS.
   ...
   VAVS volunteers such as John Casey demonstrate, by their good deeds, that we will not fail those with whom we serve."
   
   A U.S. Navy veteran of the Second World War, Casey has donated more than 13,000 hours throughout his 27 years in the VAVS. Through the years, he has helped out with Golden Age Games and Wheelchair Games; provided clerical support to the VA hospital and direct outreach to its patients; and staffed the medical center's health-screening and informational booths at state fairs and other public events. Casey was employed at the Dallas VA hospital for 32 years prior to his 1988 retirement as an engineering supervisor. He is a member of American Legion Harding Blaine Post 321 in Plano, Texas.

3. 3. Connecticut Post Online - Local/Regional News

   www.connpost.com/Stories/0,141 - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/28/2004   Last Visited: 5/28/2004

   Popeye the Sailor has nothing on John Casey, in either longevity or strength or physique.
   
   At 91, Casey is the oldest World War II veteran still marching in the annual Shelton-Derby Memorial Day parade.
   
   At an age when many people are in nursing homes or use walkers, Casey still marches nearly 2 miles along the whole parade route, toting a white rifle as a member of the color guard of the American Legion Sutter-Terlizzi Post 16 in Shelton.
   
   He marched last year in the pouring rain and didn't even catch a sniffle. "Rain or shine, we have our parade," said Casey, a Seymour resident.
   
   Post members joke he'd look just like the cartoon Popeye if they gave him a pipe. They also say he has the vitality of the Energizer Bunny.
   ...
   Proud veteran: John Casey, 91, of Seymour, stands in the American Legion Post 16 in Shelton recently wearing one of his original sailor uniforms. Casey served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
   ...
   In all those memorial parades, Casey has marched in an original dress-white sailor uniform the U.S. Navy issued him during World War II. He worked supply lines for Marines in the Pacific in the war.
   
   Casey has kept in shape all these years.
   
   "We're very proud of him.
   ...
   Casey always stands out in the crowd as the little old guy in the crisp white sailor suit carrying the white rifle.
   
   "This is the last of the Mohicans," Casey said of his Navy whites. He said it's the last authentic uniform from World War II that he owns.
   
   The others have worn out after nearly six decades.
   
   "I wash them, but I don't iron them right away. I fold them up nice and put them in a pillow and store them in the drawer until I need them. Then I take them out and iron them fresh," Casey said.
   
   He's proud his uniform has identifying patches on the right arm, not the left. He said that shows it's a vintage piece from the war.
   
   How does he account for the fact that it still fits him after all these years? "I always played a lot of sports, from tiddlywinks to basketball and football," Casey said.
   
   When he was a young man
   
   before the age of 28 when he joined the Navy
   
   he had been a boxer.
   
   "I wanted to see if I could keep up with the boys," Casey said.
   
   He fought under the name John Casey because no one could pronounce his birth name, Czajkowski.
   
   He later legally changed his name to Casey.
   
   He entered the Navy in October 1942, serving in the Pacific unloading supply ships to keep the war effort moving.
   
   He jokes that he never served as a sailor on a ship, except to unload them.
   
   "It wasn't what I wanted to do in the Navy," he said.
   
   He wanted to be a gunner because he was a crack shot, but his superiors put him on the supply line.
   
   He got out of the Navy in October 1946.
   
   "After the Navy, I worked at a lumber company. Then I went to work at Derby Gas and Electric for many years," he said. He later became a customer service worker for Northeast Utilities.
   
   His friends say that part of the reason he stays so young is that he has a much younger wife, Beverly, who is 57.
   ...
   Casey said he recently underwent surgery to repair a rotator cuff in his shoulder, but he still exercises.
   
   "Now I do calisthenics. You've got to keep your joints oiled down," he said.