Obituary: Area soldier killed in Afghanistan

Justin Casillas was the chivalrous young man who asked his girlfriend's father for permission to date the man's daughter, the high school football player who wouldn't let his smaller frame stop him from tackling bigger boys, and the patriotic young man who dreamed of becoming a soldier.

"That was what he felt his calling was," said Roy Perkins, Casillas' football coach at Pierce High School in Arbuckle.

On July 4, a day when Americans celebrate the country's independence, 19-year-old Pfc. Justin Aaron Casillas of Dunnigan was one of two soldiers killed at Combat Outpost Zerok in Afghanistan when a truck bomb exploded.

Casillas was a paratrooper with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. He had been deployed only four months.

The other soldier who died was Pfc. Aaron E. Fairbairn, 20, of Aberdeen, Wash.

At 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, Casillas was small for football. But as No. 54, the fun-loving young man played hard as an offensive lineman and defensive end, even when he sprained his ankle twice during his senior season, Perkins said.

"He was one of those athletes who maximized the abilities he had," Perkins said. "He was very coachable."

Perkins said Casillas spoke several times to friends about his desire to join the military.

A month before Casillas was deployed overseas, Perkins said, the young man stopped by in his military fatigues to say goodbye to his coaches and teachers.

Happy and excited, Casillas was looking forward to his assignment, Perkins said.

"It was good to see him going in the direction that he wanted to be in and succeeding," Perkins said.

Kasey Tatum, 19, who dated Casillas briefly in high school, said her ex-boyfriend had been talking about joining the military since elementary school.

"He always had American pride, flags in his house, up in his room," Tatum said.

Casillas was also someone "you could have fun with," Tatum said, adding that they would "do this dorky thing" and act out a scene from the animated film "Finding Nemo."

They also watched a lot of "Batman" movies together, she said. And when Casillas wanted to ask her out, Tatum's father said Casillas asked for permission, something that other boys never did.

"He was a very lovable person," said Casillas' grandfather, Joe Casillas Sr., a World War II veteran.

Justin Casillas also has a younger sister who is planning to join the Navy.

Joe Casillas Sr. said Justin's parents are in Delaware to collect his remains.

"It's a big loss," Perkins said. "Justin was doing something of incredible importance. He was doing something that not many teenagers are going to volunteer to do."