Schofield soldier dies in Iraq

Private memorial services will be held next week at the Schofield Barracks main chapel for a 22-year-old military policeman who was killed Tuesday in Iraq.

The Pentagon reported yesterday that Pfc. Casey P. Mason of Lake, Mich., died from wounds he suffered when his unit was attacked in Mosul.

He will be remembered by his unit, fellow soldiers and friends at a private memorial service at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Mason was assigned to the 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, at Schofield Barracks. He was the 74th soldier with Hawaii ties to die in Iraq since the United States invaded the country in March 2003.

Mason enlisted in the Army in October 2006 and was assigned to the 512th Military Police Company, a unit of the 8th Military Police Brigade, in April.

In September the 120-member military police company was sent to Mosul on a 15-month deployment.

The 8th Military Police Brigade was located in South Korea until September 2006, when it was reassigned to Schofield Barracks and placed under the control of the newly created 8th Theater Sustainment Command. The mission of the 8th Sustainment Command is to prepare the 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Pacific soldiers for worldwide deployment.