And Still We Do It. Still We Do It.

i went across the water to affy one day
and i'm gone and i'm gone
and my mother just prays
she cries and she prays
and her whole body shakes
but i'll only be back
wrapped up for the wake.

A memorial to war dead of Iraq and Afghanistan

By St. John Barned-Smith

Inquirer Staff Writer

Joseph Hagan knelt beneath the scorching sun, scanning the stenciled names before him. By the end of yesterday, he and his sons had carved 62 more names into the granite floor of Philadelphia's Korean War Memorial.

They were different from the others he had carved there. These were for more recent casualties - Philadelphia-area servicemen and women who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The names of the 62 battle deaths joined those of the 610 Philadelphia-area soldiers who died in Korea as well as other Korean War veterans who have since passed away.

Keepers of the Korean War Memorial at Penn's Landing say they were motivated to honor the losses of the current wars - honor they felt took too long to be given in previous conflicts. They also wanted to honor a shared experience of combat, service, and loss.

The additions will be dedicated Monday, Memorial Day.

"I went home and just went to work," Lou Giacomelli, 78, said of his return from Korea, where he had been wounded. It was as if "no one realized you were gone," he said. "It's the same as right now with Iraq and Afghanistan."

Over the last two years, Giacomelli and other members of the Friends of the Korean War Memorial at Penn's Landing began holding monthly gatherings. They took down the flag, played Taps, read the names of the dead, and recited prayers and benedictions at the memorial at Second and Dock Streets.

About a year ago, Giacomelli turned to William J. Kelly, president of the foundation, and said, "There's got to be more we can do."

The push to recognize the veterans in stone began. On Memorial Day, the names, inscribed in a corner of the memorial, will be unveiled in an 11 a.m. ceremony.

"This way, at least their names will be down for eternity," Giacomelli said.

The motivations for the supporters differ.

Kelly, the foundation's president, did not serve in the Korean War. Nevertheless, he said, it touched him deeply.

"I went to school with a lot of veterans who had just gotten out of the service," he said. "When we came out of high school, we were sort of footloose and fancy-free." The veterans soon taught him different.

"They told us, 'We almost had to sacrifice our lives to get what you're getting now,' referring to the education they received under the GI Bill. That really struck me."

Years later, Kelly became involved with soldiers like those he respected so highly in college. They and he pushed for a Korean War memorial in Philadelphia. It took years to achieve, and was built in 2002.

When the war in Iraq began, Kelly said, "many veterans felt that this was an unwelcome war" that the public would not support. "They felt that there wouldn't be a groundswell to create a memorial."

So they decided to take care of it themselves.

The group obtained a list of servicemen and women from Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery Counties from the Department of Defense.

Joseph Hagan worked throughout the day yesterday to finish the engravings on time for the ceremony.

The Philadelphia stoneworker, whose family has been in the trade since 1872, said, "Really, when you see the name on the stone, it's eye-opening what's happening over there."

One of the names he carved had special significance. It was the name of a firefighter from a station close to his own home in Bucks County.

"You see one or two names in the news," said Hagan, "but it doesn't really hit until you see the list of names from the five-county area."

Barbara Burgstahler lost her son Nicholas J. Zangara in July 2004 in Tikrit, Iraq. She said she was pleased by the efforts of the Friends of the Korean War Memorial to honor her son and others.

"I think it's a good thing," she said, adding that Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans deserve their own memorial. But she said of the work of the Korean memorial group, "I'm sure every parent who lost their son or daughter in these wars would appreciate them."

She said she understood why soldiers of a past war would add the names of new casualties to "their" memorial.

"The soldiers relate with each other," she said. "It doesn't matter when it was, Vietnam, Korea. . . . They're like brothers and sisters."

Some who attend the unveiling will be there to honor coworkers. John Haligan, a member of the Philadelphia Police Department honor guard, noticed the name of a fellow police officer on the list: Gennaro Pellegrini Jr.

"One-Punch" Pellegrini - so named for his pursuit and capture of an armed-robbery suspect in Philadelphia - died in an explosion in Beyji, Iraq, in August 2005.

"It chokes you up a little bit," Haligan said. "You've got these soldiers and sailors and Marines and airmen etched in stone. Now, years later, you still have to add more names. It hits home, especially when one of those names is a Philadelphia police officer like yourself."