Village remembers fallen soldier

By Vinde Wells -  vwells@shawnews.com

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MOUNT MORRIS – The widow of a soldier killed last week in Afghanistan would like him to be remembered as a family man.

Brigette Cain, 26, said her husband, Spc. Norman Cain III, always put his family first.

“I want him to be remembered not only as a hero, which he was, but also as a devoted husband and father. He was our world,” she said.

Cain, 22, and two other Illinois soldiers, Sgt. Christopher Abeyta, 23, of Midlothian, and Spc. Robert Weinger, 24, of Round Lake Beach, died after a roadside bomb exploded March 15 near their vehicle in Kot.

The Cains married in July in Oregon. Brigette Cain, their son, Toryn, 1, and her daughter, Fallon Speilman, 3, were living in Oregon when Cain left in October on his first deployment.

She and the children moved to an apartment in Mount Morris in mid-February.

Cain will be greatly missed by his family, said Brigette, who is originally from Kansas City, Mo.

“This family will never be the same,” she said. “He was absolutely my soul mate – I was lucky to have him in my life as long as I did.”

Cain’s is a 2006 graduate of Freeport High School. His stepfather, Mark Otto of Freeport, is a part-time Polo police officer.

Cain, Abeyta and Weinger were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Woodstock. Brigette Cain said she plans to attend their funerals this weekend.