__________________
Where does it say that??
I LIKE MIKE

October 7 Saturday 7-11
FOP
1336 Spring Garden St
www.pellegrinischolarshipfund.com

Tickets at the 26th district or at the door

__________________
Where does it say that??
I LIKE MIKE

Philadelphia's press had given the story of fallen Officer Gary Skerski a top priority as a story that sells newspapers.

It was to that extent, that the press had almost excluded stories of other police officers that also died in the line of duty. Officer Gennaro Pellegrini died in another line of duty while serving this Country.

Who was Gennaro Pellegrini? Here is his story:

Gennaro "Gerry" Pellegrini Jr.

by Christopher Schwartz

Infantry: Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized)

Died: Aug. 9, 2005 in Beiji, Iraq, age 31

At the corner of Lehigh Avenue and Tulip Street, former police Officer Gennaro "Gerry" Pellegrini Jr. still watches over his 26th District streets. Memorialized in paint and mortar as part of a block-long mural, Gerry kneels amidst three smiling Iraqi children, fist raised, eyes steady.

"Gerry had only a few loves in this life," Police Capt. Lou Campione said at a recent ceremony to dedicate the memorial. "Love of God, love of family, love of neighbor and love of country. Gerry transcended our community to include [Iraq's] community."

Born at Frankford Hospital, Gerry would be fueled by ambitious dreams but led by duty. This, even though he seemed more given to the easygoing lifestyle of a typical Port Richmond/Fishtown youngster. Never more than an average student, he hopped around Philadelphia's public- and private-school systems before finally graduating from Fels High School in 1991. For roughly the next decade, he worked as an auto mechanic.

"The truth is," explains his sister Kim Petaccio, "he was hanging out. He was a typical guy. He liked loud music, driving big cars, going to the bar."

Yet, there was a stronger quality to him, explains his mother Edith. "He was very loyal. He never backed down from a fight. He would always defend a friend," she says, before pausing and laughing to herself. "I'm sure he started a few of those fights, too."

Gerry was not without serious aspirations, namely to become a police officer like his father, and a professional boxer. He'd been training as a welterweight since he was 20 but never had any military ambitions. But in 1998, allured by promises of a great college-tuition package, he joined the Army National Guard even though his family tried to convince him otherwise.

He took the police exam twice and enrolled in the academy in October 2001. His father retired from the force in May 2002, and Gerry became a full-fledged officer that July, receiving his old man's badge number: 3722. He was on the beat a full three years, "and absolutely loved it," says Gerry Sr. "To serve and protect, that's what he got to do. He never complained, and any detail Capt. Campione needed, he'd do it."

It seemed that his life was finally on course as he expected to fulfill his Guard commitment in April 2004 but, two weeks before that could happen, he was activated and deployed. Gerry was "mad," and denounced the conflict in Iraq as a "so-called war" in a Daily News article. He told the paper he was "too out of shape [for combat]," and, as his fiancee had just broken up with him, too heartbroken over that and the danger he was about to face. Nevertheless, "he still did his job," says Gerry Sr.

His life in shambles, Gerry accomplished one of his dreams: On May 21, 2004, at the Blue Horizon, he won his first, and only, professional bout with a fourth-round knockout. Then, he was off to the Middle East.

Gerry never told his family what he experienced in Iraq for fear of worrying them. The day several other members from his unit, including Brahim Jeffcoat [Was It Worth It, Christopher Schwartz, Oct. 20, 2005], were killed, he phoned loved ones to say, "Just in case you see this on the news, it's all right, I'm OK."

Three days later, Gerry was dead.

While investigating an incident involving a rocket-propelled grenade, Gerry's humvee drove over a buried improvised explosive device (IED), which was remotely detonated. The humvee was obliterated yet some 35 insurgents stormed the burning wreckage and shot the soldiers' bodies. They then fled into nearby woods, but were killed when an air strike leveled the forest.
Was It Worth It?

Today, Gerry's family remains enraged, claiming the stop-loss order which pulled him back into combat is really a "back-door draft."

"He never should have been in Iraq," argues Gerry Sr. "We should never have done away with the draft — it could have stayed on as a per-diem draft — because then we wouldn't have a personnel shortage and then this would never have happened."

Edith says soldiers should have been pulled out when the search for weapons of mass destruction weren't found.

"This is a losing battle," says Gerry Sr. Iraqis believe "that their life begins after death. I feel that when we leave, they'll go right back to where they were before, just with different leadership."

A beef and beer dinner to benefit the Gennaro Pellegrini Jr. Scholarship Fund will be held at the National Guard Armory, Southampton Road and Roosevelt Blvd., at 7 p.m., Fri., Oct. 28. Call 215-776-2216 for reservations.
----END---

This year:

2nd Annual Beef and Beer
FOP
1336 Spring Garden St
All funds benefit the Gennaro Pellegrini scholarship fund
Saturday October 7 from 7-11
www.pellegrinischolarshipfund.com

Thanks Northwood,
One more thing, Gerry was born and raised on 1500 Block of Rosalie St., known as Oxford Circle, Northwood or Frankford. Played ball at Frankford Boys Club and attended local schools. he moved to Port Richmond in 2001 at the age of 27. Local kid made good, Pro Boxer at Harrowgate, Police Officer, Army Reserve.What more can we ask of a kid from the neighborhood. I will continue to support his memory. There is a stickball tournament fundraiser at Stockley Playground, Thompson and Indiana this Saturday Our first beef and beer was attended by over 900 people and raised over $35000 for the scholarship fund. A kid from Father Judge was given a full 4 year scholarship in Gerry's memory

__________________
United we stand. Divided we fall.

How could you go wrong with "beef and beer" ...?

-- mr c

Just thought I'd bump up this thread and encourage anyone available to come out and support this worthy cause tonite. Pellegreni was one of our own neighborhood guys, police officer and soldier killed in Iraq last year.

Tickets can be purchased at the door.

__________________
United we stand. Divided we fall.

I bought 6 tickets and passed them out. Those six people are bringing friends that will buy at the door.

I am just jumping in the shower. I'm late.

What an odd statement. "Gary Skerski has been getting all the press."? Gee, I guess because he took a shotgun round in the neck trying to save the patrons of a tavern here in the NE. What a hog he is...tying up the press like that.
Gee.....come to think of it...you make this comment....you were the biggest opponent of the renaming of Castor Ave or a park after Gary....yet he was the Community Relations Officer in the neighborhood you "serve". NOT to mention....he was killed there as well.
HMMMMMMMM........

I didnt take it that way at all, I took it that there is another very deserving officer that noone really hears about.

__________________
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.

Lbomb, You are either misinformed or just trying to pick a fight.

If you had attended any civic meetings, or interpreted what I had posted on the blog, you would know that "I" was not "the biggest opponent of the renaming of Castor Ave or a park after Gary."

This was a decision made by this community and is supported by many others across the whole city. As far as I know the City has made no decision on any of it.

I do not intend to start on a conversation about Officer Skerski on this thread. If you have something good to say about Gary, then start a new thread.

If you have something to say about Officer Gennaro Pellegrini, or make a donation, go right ahead.
http://www.pellegrinischolarshipfund.com/

My only apology would be for incorrect or poor grammar.

BTW - the Beef and Beer was a good time.

The meatballs and potato salad tasted homemade, the beef was good too.

The raffles and door prizes were not cheap.