Hero returns
Morton happy to be back home
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Casey Morton is happy to be home.

After four tours of duty in the military in war zones, the Jasper native is thrilled to be back in his hometown.

"I have been wanting to come home so bad," Morton said, whose mother still resides in Jasper.

Morton said he tried to keep his mother informed on his deployments and remind her of his safety but that mostly fell on deaf ears.

"No matter how much you tell your parents not to worry, they might say they won't, but in the back of their mind they are still going to worry," Morton said. "It just boils down to love."

In fact, on Morton's first deployment to Iraq, his mother was comforted by her stepfather with military words of wisdom.

"He was a veteran of World War II and a POW so he told her that our warriors always come home," Morton said. "After that, she still worried but she didn't worry as much. She knew I was going to come home."

Morton is currently home on separation leave from the Navy after serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan and three tours in Iraq.

Morton has mixed feelings about this time in the military. He said he enjoyed the time serving his country but had different feelings about the leadership displayed at times on the battle lines.

"It was fun but it was also real aggravating because the people in charge didn't want to listen to you," Morton said. "But I have to admit that I am going to miss it."

Morton joined the Navy after graduating from Jasper High School in 2002. He said he would miss his friends left behind during the deployments to active duty.

"I wanted to weld for a living and people think that I joined just for the G.I. bill but that is not the case," Morton said. "My main goal is to weld for a living and I just wanted to further my career."

Morton worked with the Naval construction battalion during his tours and worked closely with the Marines during each tour.

"There's just a brotherhood there with the Marines and the Naval construction battalion," Morton said. "During my second deployment, I was with Marines and they loved us being there."

During his deployments, Morton was kept away from firefights. In fact, most of the time he was stationed in what is known as "green areas."

"You knew you were in a war zone, but you felt relatively safe," Morton said.

He said during his second deployment in Iraq, a Naval construction battalion troop was deployed to Falujah and was attacked by incoming rounds of attacks.

"I lost a friend of mine, SW-3 Erik Nott, was hit by shrapnel and died right after that," Morton said.

Morton said he has heard the ongoing debate from Washington about the costs of the mission in Iraq and whether it should continue. But he said it is hard for him to make a call on whether the battle is winnable.

"I can't say one way or the other," Morton said. "I always stayed behind the wires and I always felt that I was letting my brothers in arms down by just staying behind the wire and not getting on the front line.

"It may seem like it's unwinnable at times but there are always ups and downs," Morton said.

With his service to his country behind him, Morton is now concentrating on a future as a welder. He said when he joined the Navy; he wanted to gain experience in the welding field to further a career outside of the armed forces.

In fact, his plans are to attend a welding school in Tulsa, OK. He said he will actively search for a job in the welding field upon graduation but will keep his options open as far as the military is concerned.

Morton said he will enlist in the Naval reserves and if he can't field secured employment upon graduating from welding school, he may re-enlist in the armed forces.

Morton admits that there has been an adjustment period since coming out of this military service. Now that he is entering the job market in the world, he sees differences in the way issues are handled.

"There is something in the world called job security," Morton said. "In the military, you know that every two weeks you are going to get a pay check. You can't get fired. In the military, you have somebody watching your back for you when you go to work.

"I have heard from cousins and friends in the civilian world, that it's a dog eat dog world," Morton said. "You have to watch your own back. I was scared to get out into the civilian world because the job security issue. In the military, I had a job and knew what I had to do every day and I knew when I left every day I would get paid every two weeks.

"Coming back home, you might call the week before you get home and have a job lined up and then you get here and find out they had to fill it sooner," Morton said.

Morton has found employment pouring concrete and plans to work with that position until he leaves for welding school in February.

"When my dad mentioned it to me, he sounded like it was something I might not want to do but it's a job," Morton said. "If there is one thing you learn in the military is that you take what you can get."