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GLENVILLE/RENSSELAER, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Monday was the first of what will be many farewells for two fallen service members who died near the Southern Border last weekend. People from all across the Capital Region paid their respects as the bodies of Casey Frankoski and John Grassia returned home for the last time.
Flying in from the Lone Star State was a military plane carrying two bodies. 28-year-old Casey Frankoski and 30-year-old John Grassia. Both were Chief Warrant Officer 2’s.
Both service members had received numerous military honors before their lives were cut short when they were killed in a Helicopter crash near the Texas-Mexico border on March 8th.
First the Frankoski procession. In Rennselear, an assembly of American flags adorned the street where the Hearse carrying her body drove to the funeral home, then Frankoski’s casket was solemnly brought inside.
Her service history goes back years. The Columbia High School graduate enlisted with the National Guard in 2016. She was deployed to Kuwait from 2018-2019.
And now the Rensselaer resident will be remembered with her own hometown hero banner, aptly placed on the hero’s bridge.
Simultaneously there was John Grassia’s procession. In a similar fashion, his hearse arrived at the Glenville Funeral Home also to a hero’s welcome. An array of stars and stripes were present in the streets of Schenectady County, along with bystanders carrying tribute posters.
The Niskayuna Native’s obituary describes him as passionate. He enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 18. He then went on to work as a cyber security analyst for the New York State Department of Homeland Security. By 2022 he became a NY state trooper.
His official obituary ended in a very bittersweet way by noting that he was “reunited at the rainbow bridge with his loving dogs, Abby and Myah.”
When the day was done, a sight to behold in the Schenectady County skies. The planes that carried the fallen service members to their hometowns, returned empty to Texas.
For Casey Franskowski a funeral mass will be held at The Parish of St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph Church in Rensselaer at 11:00 am on Friday. Interment will be held in the Saratoga National Cemetery, immediately following the mass.
As for Officer Grassia, the funeral will be next Tuesday morning at 11 at St John the Evangelist Church. Grassia will be buried at Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville.
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