Almost Forgotten

            In the past 150 years the Bridgeville and South Fayette area has paid a heavy price when its men went off to serve in the military in order to preserve freedom and liberty in our country and often in the world. At least 107 of its sons  perished while doing so as follows: Civil War[11], World War 1[22], World War 2[58], Korean War[8], Cold War[4], and Vietnam War[4]. The author was inspired to commemorate these men  when he was working on a similar project to honor men from his church who perished while in the military service.   In 2005 he stumbled on the fact that Bridgeville's first World War 2 casualty, Alexander Asti, perished on the USS Juneau when it was sunk by the Japanese at Guadacanal. This was the famous incident that also took the lives of the “Five Sullivan Brothers”. As it turned out, Alexander had no connection to the author's church. However,  he was moved  by the story of Alexander Asti and the USS Juneau and felt the need to  honor all of the men from his hometown regardless of their religious or ethnic heritage.  Therefore, in May 2005 he initiated this project.  Initially,  the “first time author” made little progress  as he struggled with how to research such a project.  In 2006 while working on the project he had the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Farrelli and Rosemary Batelli, sisters of John Fabeck who perished during WW2. It was then that he was energized to complete his work, realizing that except for family members these men who gave  up their lives for our country were largely forgotten. After that, many people stepped forward with information on known and new casualties, as well as  recommendations on sources of additional information. After five years of research his book “Almost Forgotten” has now been published to permanently commemorate these 107 men. Hundreds of men and women who contributed information to the author are acknowledged in the book.

            The book documents who these  men were, where they lived, who their parents and siblings were, the conflict in which they served, their branch of service, when and where they perished, and where they are buried or memorialized. However, it goes beyond these details by relating anecdotes and human interest stories concerning the casualties, their friends, and their families. The author takes the liberty of sharing his memories of the men who perished, the conflicts in which they served, and his family's connection to the various conflicts.  Each man's story is told, some brief due to a paucity of information and some lengthy due to a plethora of information.  Since one WW1 and four WW2 casualties have been reported by only one source with  limited information, they  remain somewhat questionable.

            In addition to the story of Alexander Asti and the USS Juneau, the reader will find numerous other interesting and often sad facts. During the Civil War Benjamin Kerr was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg and later paroled, only to be captured again and perish in a Confederate prison. J Boyd Alexander, John Jordan, and Samuel Smith also died in Confederate prisons. The small community of Morgan  lost five sons in WW1; similarly, the small community of Sturgeon lost five sons in WW2. Samuel Ballotti and William Ridder were each  awarded two Purple Hearts during WW2, one for a non fatal wound and one for the wound that took their life.   Silver Stars were awarded to John Farenzena, James McCracken, William Ridder, and Jacob Yapel during WW2; James Huey and Edward Kolessar during the Korean War; and James McAleer during the Vietnam War. William Hagerty was 38 years old when he was killed in action during WW2, while William Barclay who perished in WW1 was only 16. Probably  the saddest story concerns Michael Mizia who was killed by “friendly fire” two weeks before WW2 ended in Europe. Tragically, the Kirkpatricks, McCools, Schollaerts, Subics, and Likars each lost two family members. 

            Readers of the book who have lived in the Bridgeville and South Fayette area most of their  lives will  have a  walk down memory lane. They will find  numerous familiar names, places, incidents, and unfortunately, 107 sad stories!  Most  importantly the reader will find the book to be a lasting memorial to these men.