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http://www.newhavenregister.com/site/news....6&PAG=461&rfi=9
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| His father admits it can sound strange for a career firefighter to worry about his son’s chosen occupation, particularly after the former two-way football star at Lyman Hall High School followed him into firefighting as a member of the Yalesville Volunteer Company. "He can’t really tell us where he is," Casanova said. "Just where he’s been. You do get scared. We’re very proud and very worried." |
WALLINGFORD — After a four-year hitch as an Army medic from 1996 to 2000, Beau Casanova was quietly serving his community as a paramedic and as a volunteer firefighter.
"He had served eight months in Bosnia," said his father, Guy Casanova, deputy fire chief of the Wallingford Fire Department this week. "He studied to be a paramedic under the GI Bill. He was working with American Medical Response in New Haven. Then came Sept. 11, and he felt he had to do something."
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, Casanova, 24, re-enlisted in the Army this year, and last month received a Bronze Star for his actions on April 13, in which he pulled a wounded Iraqi civilian and his child from the middle of a firefight, and then supervised the treatment and evacuation of 12 wounded U.S. soldiers.
According to the recommendation, Casanova, attached to the 549th Area Support Medical Company out of Fort Hood, Texas, was near the city of Al Mahmudiyah, where two groups of ambulance teams had taken numerous Iraqi civilians for medical attention. Upon returning to their base, the group came upon a group of soldiers under fire.
"Immediately upon dismounting his vehicle, Specialist Casanova observed an Iraqi civilian and his young son who were shouting for help," states the recommendation.
"Without regard for personal safety Casanova rushed to the two, quickly helped them into (a military vehicle) and began assessing their injuries."
Casanova was lauded for telling the child to keep low within the vehicle while treating his father for a gunshot wound to the chest until the shooting died down and he could be handed over to civilian doctors.
Later that evening, after treating an Iraqi who was shot while trying to run a nearby checkpoint, Casanova’s squad volunteered to evacuate 12 wounded U.S. soldiers from the 3/502nd Infantry Division. His commanding officer called Casanova "an invaluable asset to the company."
Casanova is married, and lives in Texas with his wife and two daughters. His parents, Guy and Carla, still live in Wallingford.
The Bronze Star is awarded to soldiers who distinguish themselves "by heroic or meritorious achievement or service."
His father admits it can sound strange for a career firefighter to worry about his son’s chosen occupation, particularly after the former two-way football star at Lyman Hall High School followed him into firefighting as a member of the Yalesville Volunteer Company.
"He can’t really tell us where he is," Casanova said. "Just where he’s been. You do get scared. We’re very proud and very worried."
