Paratrooper from area killed in Afghanistan

Whether he was stationed in Iraq or, most recently, in Afghanistan, Army Staff Sgt. Casey Combs called his wife and father often. But the paratrooper from Pierce County never talked about combat.

Rob Combs, of Orting, and Amber Combs, of Raeford, N.C., both said they were curious about what Combs was doing, but they never pried. The one time that Combs, 28, opened up was to ask his father to see whether co-workers at Boeing would donate shoes, clothes and toys to children in Iraq.

"We never heard war stories because Casey never felt the need to share," Amber Combs said Sunday, speaking from her home. "He said a good soldier doesn't boast; a good soldier just did his job."

Combs, a father of two young children and 1997 graduate of Sumner High School, died in combat Thursday.

His vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, his father was told.

Born in Renton, Combs was the eldest of Rob and Colleen Combs' three sons. He loved sports, lettering in baseball and tennis during high school, his father said.

Though Combs and Amber Wise attended high school together, she was two grades behind him, and the two didn't meet until the summer of 1999.

"I was working in a tanning salon, and he came in. He said he was there for a 9 p.m. appointment, but we were closed and I told him to leave," Amber Combs, 26, said. "That started some playful banter back and forth every time he came back."

The couple started dating and married in 2002.

Combs worked as a construction-site foreman until Sept. 11, 2001.

"I remember that day. We were both upset," Amber Combs said. "Later that week he said he had to do something. That following week we had a recruiter at our house."

Combs told his wife and family that it was "what he needed to do to keep us safe and everyone else safe."

The couple moved to North Carolina after he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.

While Combs served two tours in Iraq, his wife attended college to become a schoolteacher and cared for daughter Hallie, 6, and son Trenton, 2.

In December, Combs and his family went to Disney World.

"We knew he was going to Afghanistan for a year, and we knew it wasn't going to be a good place," Rob Combs said. "It was his third time [at war] and we wanted to make sure we saw him before he left."

It is only since Combs' death that his family has been looking through his medals and awards, piecing together what his life was like as a soldier.

"He was a self-sacrificing person," Rob Combs said, sobbing.

In addition to his wife, children and parents, Combs is survived by brothers Jeff Combs, 25, of Seattle, and Sam Combs, 19, of Kelso.

The family is planning a funeral in Pierce County on Saturday. Details are still being worked out.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com