Hugh John "Patt"
- Casey, Hugh John "Patt"
U.S. 1* Major General, adviser MacArthur. Corps Engineers.
- 07-06-1891, Brooklyn, New York.
- USA.
- 30-08-1981, heart failure, age 90, White River Junction, Vermont .
Arlington Cemetery, Virginia USA. Section 3- Grave 1980 A.
Casey, Hugh John "Patt"
Hugh Casey, born on 07-06-1891 in Brooklyn, New York, will always be remembered as General Douglas MacArthur’s chief engineer, because his greatest achievements as an engineer came during his eight years with MacArthur. (see MacArthur). Casey started his career in the Army and Corps of Engineers as an underage plebe who entered the US Military Academy during the summer of 1915 and not involved in World War I. The firsthand knowledge of the Philippine topography that Casey gained during his surveys allowed him during World War II to plan and act with a detailed personal knowledge of the terrain. 
His second duty, to advise MacArthur, brought Casey into close contact with his future commander and many of the Philippine Army engineers. Casey supervised demolitions as MacArthur's troops retreated to Bataan. He joined MacArthur and sixteen other members of his staff in their escape from Corregidor by PT boat in March 1942. For the Battle of Leyte Casey's ASCOM had 43,000 men, of whom 21,000 were engineers. The need to get aircraft based on Leyte ![[WWII Armored Dozer, Side View: 103rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 28th Infantry Division]](http://www.lonesentry.com/features/pics/dozer-armored.jpg)
to stop the Japanese from reinforcing the island was so pressing that Lieutenant General George Kenney (see Kenney) was persuaded to accept the site and Lieutenant General Walter Krueger (see Krueger) agreed to move his headquarters. Despite enormous difficulties Casey’s ASCOM was able to finish numerous projects on time. On 13-02-1945, ASCOM was transferred to USASOS and redesigned the Luzon Base Section. Casey then resumed his post as Chief Engineer, but remained in Japan as MacArthur's Chief Engineer until Casey's retirement, on 31-12-1949. He died of a heart attack, at the old age of 90, on 30-08-1981, at the Veterans Administration Hospital at White River Junction, Vermont. Hugh Casey is buried with his wife Dorothy, born Miller, who died old age of 93 in 1995, on the Arlington National Cemetery in Section 3. Close by the graves of the Generals Charles Bonesteel (see Bonesteel), Maxwell Murray (see Murray), Anthony McAuliffe (see McAuliffe) the Bastogne defender, and Truman Boudinot (see Boudinot).
His second duty, to advise MacArthur, brought Casey into close contact with his future commander and many of the Philippine Army engineers. Casey supervised demolitions as MacArthur's troops retreated to Bataan. He joined MacArthur and sixteen other members of his staff in their escape from Corregidor by PT boat in March 1942. For the Battle of Leyte Casey's ASCOM had 43,000 men, of whom 21,000 were engineers. The need to get aircraft based on Leyte to stop the Japanese from reinforcing the island was so pressing that Lieutenant General George Kenney (see Kenney) was persuaded to accept the site and Lieutenant General Walter Krueger (see Krueger) agreed to move his headquarters. Despite enormous difficulties Casey’s ASCOM was able to finish numerous projects on time. On 13-02-1945, ASCOM was transferred to USASOS and redesigned the Luzon Base Section. Casey then resumed his post as Chief Engineer, but remained in Japan as MacArthur's Chief Engineer until Casey's retirement, on 31-12-1949. He died of a heart attack, at the old age of 90, on 30-08-1981, at the Veterans Administration Hospital at White River Junction, Vermont. Hugh Casey is buried with his wife Dorothy, born Miller, who died old age of 93 in 1995, on the Arlington National Cemetery in Section 3. Close by the graves of the Generals Charles Bonesteel (see Bonesteel), Maxwell Murray (see Murray), Anthony McAuliffe (see McAuliffe) the Bastogne defender, and Truman Boudinot (see Boudinot).
