Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, Friday, July 29, 1988, Page:11
Col. Andrew Casper, 87
National Guard officer Andrew F. Casper, 87, who served with the Illinois National Guard's 132d Infantry Regiment in the bloody battle of Guadalcanal during World War II, died Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. Graveside services with military honors are being planned at the national cemetery in Fayetteville.
Col. Casper, a former Chicago-area resident who in civilian life was an auditor for the Illinois Central Railroad, was an officer in the Illinois National Guard from 1920 to 1947 and then served for more than 10 years as a colonel in the Army Reserve. Col. Casper was the 132d Regiment's executive officer (second in command) with the rank of lieutenant colonel when it was called into federal service in March, 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor. After the United States entered World War II, Col. Casper and the 132d, consisting mainly of Chicago-area men, were assigned to the Pacific Theater as part of the Americal Division. In 1942, the Americal Division and the 1st Marine Division joined forces in wresting Guadalcanal from the Japanese. Col. Casper's son, Richard, then a sergeant, served with him on Guadalcanal and was wounded there.
Later Col. Casper was transferred to the European Theater where he was promoted to full colonel and made commanding officer of the 273d Infantry Regiment, in the 69th Infantry Division. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for bravery during action near Leipzig. Later, his division was the first to link up with the Soviet Union's army on the Elbe River in Germany.
Col. Casper returned to Chicago and his job as traveling auditor for the Illinois Central in September, 1945. He retired from the National Guard in 1947, but immediately joined the Army Reserve. He helped establish the reserve's skeleton 85th Infantry Division with headquarters in Chicago and served as its commanding officer with the rank of colonel. Col. Casper, a longtime resident of Chicago's South Side and south suburban Homewood, retired from the Army Reserve in the late 1950s and from the Illinois Central in 1960, the year he moved to Fayetteville.
Col. Casper is survived by his wife, Mary Katherine; 3 sons, Richard, Edson and Andrew; 2 daughters, Edith Faun and Margurette Stubbs; and 17 grandchildren.
Military Information: COL, US ARMY
Col. Andrew Casper, 87
National Guard officer Andrew F. Casper, 87, who served with the Illinois National Guard's 132d Infantry Regiment in the bloody battle of Guadalcanal during World War II, died Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. Graveside services with military honors are being planned at the national cemetery in Fayetteville.
Col. Casper, a former Chicago-area resident who in civilian life was an auditor for the Illinois Central Railroad, was an officer in the Illinois National Guard from 1920 to 1947 and then served for more than 10 years as a colonel in the Army Reserve. Col. Casper was the 132d Regiment's executive officer (second in command) with the rank of lieutenant colonel when it was called into federal service in March, 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor. After the United States entered World War II, Col. Casper and the 132d, consisting mainly of Chicago-area men, were assigned to the Pacific Theater as part of the Americal Division. In 1942, the Americal Division and the 1st Marine Division joined forces in wresting Guadalcanal from the Japanese. Col. Casper's son, Richard, then a sergeant, served with him on Guadalcanal and was wounded there.
Later Col. Casper was transferred to the European Theater where he was promoted to full colonel and made commanding officer of the 273d Infantry Regiment, in the 69th Infantry Division. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for bravery during action near Leipzig. Later, his division was the first to link up with the Soviet Union's army on the Elbe River in Germany.
Col. Casper returned to Chicago and his job as traveling auditor for the Illinois Central in September, 1945. He retired from the National Guard in 1947, but immediately joined the Army Reserve. He helped establish the reserve's skeleton 85th Infantry Division with headquarters in Chicago and served as its commanding officer with the rank of colonel. Col. Casper, a longtime resident of Chicago's South Side and south suburban Homewood, retired from the Army Reserve in the late 1950s and from the Illinois Central in 1960, the year he moved to Fayetteville.
Col. Casper is survived by his wife, Mary Katherine; 3 sons, Richard, Edson and Andrew; 2 daughters, Edith Faun and Margurette Stubbs; and 17 grandchildren.
Military Information: COL, US ARMY
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, Friday, July 29, 1988, Page:11
Col. Andrew Casper, 87
National Guard officer Andrew F. Casper, 87, who served with the Illinois National Guard's 132d Infantry Regiment in the bloody battle of Guadalcanal during World War II, died Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. Graveside services with military honors are being planned at the national cemetery in Fayetteville.
Col. Casper, a former Chicago-area resident who in civilian life was an auditor for the Illinois Central Railroad, was an officer in the Illinois National Guard from 1920 to 1947 and then served for more than 10 years as a colonel in the Army Reserve. Col. Casper was the 132d Regiment's executive officer (second in command) with the rank of lieutenant colonel when it was called into federal service in March, 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor. After the United States entered World War II, Col. Casper and the 132d, consisting mainly of Chicago-area men, were assigned to the Pacific Theater as part of the Americal Division. In 1942, the Americal Division and the 1st Marine Division joined forces in wresting Guadalcanal from the Japanese. Col. Casper's son, Richard, then a sergeant, served with him on Guadalcanal and was wounded there.
Later Col. Casper was transferred to the European Theater where he was promoted to full colonel and made commanding officer of the 273d Infantry Regiment, in the 69th Infantry Division. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for bravery during action near Leipzig. Later, his division was the first to link up with the Soviet Union's army on the Elbe River in Germany.
Col. Casper returned to Chicago and his job as traveling auditor for the Illinois Central in September, 1945. He retired from the National Guard in 1947, but immediately joined the Army Reserve. He helped establish the reserve's skeleton 85th Infantry Division with headquarters in Chicago and served as its commanding officer with the rank of colonel. Col. Casper, a longtime resident of Chicago's South Side and south suburban Homewood, retired from the Army Reserve in the late 1950s and from the Illinois Central in 1960, the year he moved to Fayetteville.
Col. Casper is survived by his wife, Mary Katherine; 3 sons, Richard, Edson and Andrew; 2 daughters, Edith Faun and Margurette Stubbs; and 17 grandchildren.
Military Information: COL, US ARMY
Col. Andrew Casper, 87
National Guard officer Andrew F. Casper, 87, who served with the Illinois National Guard's 132d Infantry Regiment in the bloody battle of Guadalcanal during World War II, died Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. Graveside services with military honors are being planned at the national cemetery in Fayetteville.
Col. Casper, a former Chicago-area resident who in civilian life was an auditor for the Illinois Central Railroad, was an officer in the Illinois National Guard from 1920 to 1947 and then served for more than 10 years as a colonel in the Army Reserve. Col. Casper was the 132d Regiment's executive officer (second in command) with the rank of lieutenant colonel when it was called into federal service in March, 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor. After the United States entered World War II, Col. Casper and the 132d, consisting mainly of Chicago-area men, were assigned to the Pacific Theater as part of the Americal Division. In 1942, the Americal Division and the 1st Marine Division joined forces in wresting Guadalcanal from the Japanese. Col. Casper's son, Richard, then a sergeant, served with him on Guadalcanal and was wounded there.
Later Col. Casper was transferred to the European Theater where he was promoted to full colonel and made commanding officer of the 273d Infantry Regiment, in the 69th Infantry Division. He earned a Bronze Star Medal for bravery during action near Leipzig. Later, his division was the first to link up with the Soviet Union's army on the Elbe River in Germany.
Col. Casper returned to Chicago and his job as traveling auditor for the Illinois Central in September, 1945. He retired from the National Guard in 1947, but immediately joined the Army Reserve. He helped establish the reserve's skeleton 85th Infantry Division with headquarters in Chicago and served as its commanding officer with the rank of colonel. Col. Casper, a longtime resident of Chicago's South Side and south suburban Homewood, retired from the Army Reserve in the late 1950s and from the Illinois Central in 1960, the year he moved to Fayetteville.
Col. Casper is survived by his wife, Mary Katherine; 3 sons, Richard, Edson and Andrew; 2 daughters, Edith Faun and Margurette Stubbs; and 17 grandchildren.
Military Information: COL, US ARMY
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
