By John C. O'Connell
Private First Class Daniel Joseph Cassidy, 20, North High School class of 2001, joined the Army soon after the terrorist attacks that Sept. 11, and was sent to Kuwait in January 2003 and then to Iraq last March as a member of the 3rd Infantry Division.
"We're so very proud of him," said his mother, Julie. "His father, Vincent, his sister, Melissa, his brother, Nicholas -- we're all extremely proud him."
Cassidy came back to division headquarters in Fort Stewart, Ga., on Aug. 25 and will have leave to go home to Valley Stream on Saturday. But he won't be home long. He must return to Fort Stewart for new orders on Sept. 18.
"He called when he got to Georgia," Julie said. "'Guess where I am?' he asked me."
Cassidy plans to spend his time at home visiting friends, relaxing and one more thing: "I'm dying to eat canoles," his mother quotes him as saying.
Nicholas, 22, wants to take his brother out to have some fun, and Melissa, 25, can't wait to have him home to hug. "She used to cry looking at the news all the time he was away," Julie said of Daniel's sister.
"We all just want to hug him and kiss him and spend a lot of time with him and tell him how proud we are of him," Julie said.
Vincent, a 1st Air Cavalry Vietnam veteran, is proud of his son and relieved that he's back safe. "This has been a rough road," he said, "these last six months watching TV news of Iraq, even since it's been officially over, it's been very rough. It's the same thing like it was in Vietnam with the guerrilla warfare."
The 3rd Infantry was supposed to come home in June, but made headlines when the Army decided to keep it in Iraq longer. Cassidy's family was disappointed that he couldn't come back then.
"I told him, whatever you do, don't go in the infantry," his father recalled. "And that's where he is. It just worked out that way."
A retired New York City Fire Department lieutenant with 23 years on the job, Vincent is glad Daniel is now back on U.S. soil. He said his son told him he thinks he wants to take the test for the fire department as soon as it's given.
"That makes me happy," Vincent said. "He made it home, that's the most important thing. He's made it home."
