PRINT ADS

Nick Dewhirst saw himself someday teaching at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, his home for four years. Last Friday, he returned to West Point to be laid to rest, buried among other West Point graduates, including George Armstrong Custer, on the Hudson River in New York.

A first lieutenant with the Army’s 101st Airborne and a 2001 Onalaska High School graduate, Dewhirst was killed in combat July 20 in Afghanistan. His passing was marked July 26 in Onalaska with a memorial service celebrating his life, but more formal ceremonies were held Aug. 1 at West Point.

For his parents, Randy and Susan Dewhirst, the trip to West Point was very emotional at times but a necessary step toward closure.

Nick’s friend and West Point roommate, 1st Lt. Phil Castaneda, who spoke at the Onalaska memorial service, escorted Nick’s casket from Dover Air Force Base to Stewart Airport near West Point. There the Dewhirsts were finally able to have their private time with Nick, the second of their three sons.

“It was a very emotional time,” Randy said. One of the hardest parts for Nick’s older brother, Chad, was the fact Nick had never met Chad’s infant son, Evan, who was born while Nick was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Through an amazing coincidence, the Dewhirsts had a familiar face to guide them during their time at West Point. Major Andy Novitske, who lived next door to the family when Nick was young and babysat for them, now is an instructor at West Point.

Novitske, who like Nick served with the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne, met the Dewhirsts at the airport and helped them throughout their five days in New York.

“It was fantastic having him there,” Susan said of Novitske. “He did an excellent job. I cannot say enough about Andy.”

Between their time with Nick on Tuesday and Friday’s West Point ceremonies, the Dewhirsts (including brothers Chad and Chase and Chad’s wife Heather and son Evan) stayed in a lodge at nearby Bear Mountain State Park, with Castaneda and Randy’s brothers. The lodge offered them some time to share more stories about Nick and reflect on the remarkable and full life he led in such a short time.

“He enjoyed life so much,” Susan said.

At West Point, the Dewhirsts found that Nick had made a lot of friends. And while some might say it’s an honor for Nick to be buried at West Point, the people at the academy looked at it differently.

“They let us know that it was an honor for them to have him there,” Susan said. “More than one person said that.”

On Friday morning, the Dewhirsts and other people gathered on The Plain at West Point to witness a memorial skydiving ceremony that included two members of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team and eight members of the West Point parachute team, which Nick was in charge of his fourth year at West Point.

After landing, the skydivers came up to the Dewhirsts in the stands and gave them a baton with a plaque engraved in honor of Nick. Batons came into use in the early days of skydiving so skydivers could prove to people on the ground that they had actually been able come in contact with each other during freefall.

To the Dewhirsts, it was a moving tribute from the skydivers. “These were seasoned combat veterans and they had tears running from their eyes,” Randy said.

A lot of people at the jump talked to the Dewhirsts about how special Nick was. “I guess it was amazing to find out how many people’s lives he did touch when he was up there,” Susan said.

After the jump, the West Point commandant hosted a reception at his house, after which the commandant took the family to the caretaker’s cottage at the cemetery. There he presented the Dewhirsts with Nick’s awards, including a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman’s Badge from his service in Afghanistan.

At the graveside ceremony, a piece of the military plane wreckage in which Susan’s father was killed was place atop the urn containing Nick’s cremated remains. Five rifleman fired three shots each in a 15-gun salute, after which the chaplain placed three of the bullet casings in Randy’s hand one at a time — one for duty, one for honor, one for country.

“That was pretty neat,” Randy said.

The Dewhirsts also were presented with a flag that flew over an Army base in Afghanistan on the day Nick was killed. Amy Rodriguez, a West Point classmate of Nick, presented the flag on behalf of her father, a three-star general who commissioned Nick as an officer after his graduation from West Point.

“We can’t say enough about West Point, how they treated us and honored our son,” Susan said.

For the Dewhirsts, the West Point ceremonies were a moving climax to a difficult period that saw an outpouring of community support that amazed them, including help from Operation Homefront in putting together the video tribute for the Onalaska memorial service.

“We’ve just been overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the community support,” said Randy, who noted they received hundreds and hundreds of cards and letters of support. “We appreciate it. It all helps.”

Now that things have settled down at the Dewhirst house and they don’t have a house full of guests and a barrage of phone calls, they said they know their friends will be there for them as they come to grips with losing their son.

In a way, they feel like Nick will still be around, too. In the first days after Nick was killed, the family was gathered at the Dewhirst home. Heather watched little Evan as he smiled intently at a vacant spot on the couch. They’d like to think Evan was smiling at his Uncle Nick.

“We think that our grandson has a guardian angel,” Susan said. “We think he’s watching.”

Contact Randy Erickson at randy.erickson@lee.net or (608) 786-6812.