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Memorial unveiled in Pittsburgh to honor local military members who made ultimate sacrifice

PITTSBURGH — John Gilkey and his wife are still coping with the loss of their son who died in Afghanistan nearly five years ago, but they take solace in the fact he will now permanently be remembered by a memorial in downtown Pittsburgh.

Staff Sgt. Justin Schmalstieg’s name is just one of 29 placed on a bronze plaque that was unveiled Saturday inside the City-County building in downtown Pittsburgh. The memorial was designed to honor the men and women from our area who made the ultimate sacrifice protecting their country.

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One by one the names were read off during the ceremony to unveil the plaque, which cost $15,000 to construct and was paid for by donations.

Another $15,000 was also donated to pay for the upkeep of the memorial.

“It’s a proud moment to honor Justin and everyone else from Pittsburgh and Allegheny County who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Gilkey said.

Gilkey said he still thinks about his son every day, but it was nice to see Justin’s sacrifice honored in such a permanent fashion.

Former state Sen. Jim Ferlo was one of the people who donated money to construct the plaque.

Ferlo said he was approached to come up with a way to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, so he set out to help fundraising efforts for the plaque.

“I really didn’t want to honor just one soldier,” Ferlo said. “I thought it would be fitting and appropriate to honor 29 soldiers from Pittsburgh proper and Allegheny County.”

Ferlo said he wanted a “bronze plaque that wasn’t going to be weathered by time” and he wanted it in a prominent location, both of which happened.

For Gilkey, he urged people to come see the memorial and to pay their respects for both former and current members of the military.

“Come down and take a look and say a prayer for everyone who is still active,” he said.

WPXI

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