SEAN KASLER - WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!

MCS ALUMNI RECOGNIZED BY MCS AND THE MASSILLON INDEPENDENT

The following story appeared in the April 18, 2007 edition of the Massillon Independent. Sean Kasler is a 2003 graduate of Massillon Christian School. By Erin Pustay Erin.Pustay@IndeOnline.com

One hundred tiny voices echoed through the gymnasium of Massillon Christian School as the entire school sang together.

One small boy, John Kirchenbauer, held his hand tightly over his heart as he sang the national anthem. About half way through, he held his a pint-sized American Flag high in the air and waved it fervently as he belted out the verse.

Standing just a little way down from Kirchenbauer, Cpl. Sean Kasler stood quietly, reverently, as the song continued.

Kasler, a 2003 graduate of Massillon Christian School, was a guest of honor at an assembly Tuesday afternoon. He returned home last month from Iraq and will be in town until Saturday, at which point he will return to Okinawa, Japan. From there, he will head Australia and expects to be back in Iraq by October.

The students were proud of him. They cheered and rose to their feet when he was introduced as a guest speaker.

“We are so proud of you,” principal Carol Crowley told Kasler before giving him a hug. “We are proud that you protect us and we are so proud that you are a graduate of Massillon Christian School.”

Going from Massillon to the Marine Corps was a logical move for Kasler, who admits that he never really thought about it until he saw a commericial for the Marines. Something told him that was where he needed to be. That day, he told his best friend he was going to be Marine.

“He told me, ‘you’re not strong enough, you’re not tough enough,’” Kasler recounted. “I made it my personal goal to prove him wrong.”

Proving to himself, his friends and his family that the Marine Corps was where he truly needed to be was not easy. Not long into the boot camp, Kasler tore tendons in his ankle. His drill instructor suggested that he call it quits and head home.

“I wanted to quit so bad, but something in my gut told me to stay,” Kasler said. “I refused to sign the papers to leave. They had to let me sit there and heal.”

Besides, Kasler told the students, he made a promise to someone very special before he left to go into the service. He told his grandmother, shortly before she became very ill, that he was going to be a Marine.

“The drill instructor let me call her a couple of days before she passed away,” Kasler remembered. “I told her again that I was going to (be a Marine).”

In October 2005, Kasler was officially a Marine. He left shortly after for Okinawa, Japan, where he lived until being deployed to Iraq for a seven-month tour of duty. Truthfully, he told the students, he can’t wait to get back. In fact, he and those in his unit were not easily swayed to leave this time.

“We tried to fight it,” Kasler said. “We wanted to extend our mission over there.”

Intrigued by his experiences, students waved their hands in the air hoping he would call on them and answer questions about the work Kasler did dismantling road side bombs and delivering food and water to the Iraqi people.

“Do you speak the Iraqi language?”

“Have you ever been shot with a bullet?”

“How do you hold a gun?”

Patiently, quietly, Kasler answered every one. He is proud, he told them, of the work he did and the things he accomplished. None of that would have been possible, though, without his family and faith.

“We all carry pictures with us,” Kasler told the students. “We carry little Bibles in our trucks, it’s there on the dash and you see it every day. You think to pray when you get off the truck on a mission. As a Christian, you know there is someone bigger watching your back.”

If you would like to post a note to Sean on this page, please email it to steve@rescomservice.net.

You may also email Sean directly at seankasler@hotmail.com

Notes For Sean:

Sean,

Three of my children attend MCS. I am very proud of them and I am proud of the school that they attend. I am also very happy at their choice of heroes and roll-models.

I have heard so much about you from all three of my children that I feel that I know you personally. They all come home very excited to let us know how you are when the school receives a letter from you. I pray for you every night and am so thankful that young men and women with your sense of honor and courage are the ones protecting us everyday.

Sean, you give us all hope and encouragement that we are safe here, in our country, in our homes, and in our schools, because you are there protecting us.

Thank you for your service. If there is ANYTHING that we can do, or ANYTHING that we can send to help you in anyway, please do not hesitate to ask. It would be our honor!

Please extend our sincerest “Thank You” to your fellow soldiers and let them know that we are praying for them and appreciate everything that you and they have sacrificed for us!

Steve Cripple

steve@rescomservice.net

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