A personal memory of Anthony Kaiser

Justice Tom Nuttycombe looks back

By FRITZ MAYER

NARROWSBURG, NY — By now the newspapers are filled with the qualities that people admired in Anthony Kaiser. He was generous, committed to the community and, by all accounts, an all-around good guy. So, when news spread that he was killed by gunfire while serving in the army in Iraq, many people felt the loss deeply.

One of those people was Justice Tom Nuttycombe. After a St. Patrick’s Day dinner on March 17, he came home to a phone message from Kaiser’s dad. It was about Anthony. The message said please call, no matter how late the hour. Nuttycombe knew the news was not good.

Nuttycombe had a long and close relationship with Kaiser, dating back to 1990, when Nuttycombe was teaching the fifth grade at the Narrowsburg Central School. Kaiser was one of his students.

That’s when Nuttycombe’s admiration for Kaiser began. Kaiser got the lead role in a school play called “Deadeye Dan.” Nuttycombe said he was very dedicated; he stayed inside during the noon recess to rehearse. The acting gave him confidence.

Through the years, they maintained a close friendship. “I worked with him at Lander’s River Trips; we went to the Villa Roma gym together,” said Nuttycombe.

Kaiser, who was 27 when he died, had a couple of tough breaks while growing up. He lost his mother to illness when he was just 13 years old, and his older brother was killed in a car accident in 1997. Nuttycombe said he recovered from those tragedies very well. “He would talk about it,” said Nuttycombe, “But he would never burden anyone with it.”

After high school, when Kaiser applied to the State Police Academy, he didn’t succeed on the first try, or the second try. Nuttycombe tutored him and Kaiser studied hard. The third time, he passed. Nuttycombe said that was typical of his determination.

Two years ago, when Kaiser was going to marry Heather Featherman of Wayne County, PA, the couple asked Nuttycombe to perform the ceremony.

Nuttycombe last talked to him about a month ago, and Kaiser sounded fine. Kaiser told him that he was training Iraqis. Kaiser said sometimes they would show up for training and sometimes they wouldn’t. A few weeks later, in the chaos of Iraq, the bullets of war took down the kid who had played Deadeye Dan in the school play.

“They’re saying he’s a hero now, but to me he was always a hero, because of the way he dealt with adversity; he didn’t burden anybody,” Nuttycombe said. “I don’t know anybody who would say they didn’t like him.”