Resting in Peace

No one knows exactly how Pvt. Alfred W. Graham died during his tour in Italy. The military didn’t offer any details to his family back in Johnstown, Pa.  

When asked where to send the body, his family felt it was in his wishes to be buried with his men. And so Graham, a 31-year-old bachelor who served as an Army medic, was laid to rest with nearly 7,900 other American soldiers in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery outside Rome.

No one from his family attended the burial, nor ever visited his grave–that is, until this spring.

Imparare Insieme [Italian for LEARNING TOGETHER]

Each semester, Duquesne students who study at the Rome campus take an Intercultural Awareness and Exploration course taught by Michael Wright, director of European programs, and Alana Sacriponte, assistant director of Duquesne in Rome. 

In this course, Duquesne students partner with Italian students studying at a nearby vocational school to exchange cultures, practice languages, and perhaps even make lifelong friends.

A central part of this course involves the “Be the Difference–Never Again” project, where students from both schools pair up to profile an American soldier buried at the nearby memorial military cemetery. 

“Theory is obviously an important part of the Intercultural Awareness course that Alana and I teach, but we are blessed to have Rome and Italy be a living laboratory where our students can see theory put into practice. The ‘Be the Difference–Never Again’ project helps us do this,” Wright said. 

Duquesne physician assistant student Megan Stevens, HS ‘25, had heard stories about her grandfather’s brother who died in service during WWII, but as Graham was one of the oldest of 13 children, and her grandfather the youngest, what she mainly knew about him was that it was unfortunate no one was ever able to visit his grave.

When she received her assignment to profile one of the soldiers, something clicked in her memory–was her relative amongst those souls interred outside Rome? Her great-grandmother, her Gigi, told Stevens before she died that she always regretted that no one was able to make that journey.

Stevens quickly consulted her family, who verified that great-great-uncle Alfred was indeed buried in that very cemetery.

Connections Made, Goodbyes Bade 

Stevens was paired with an Italian student named Ricardo, and they dove into the research. There was not much information available about his death, but at least she knew they had tried everything.

For the project, students are encouraged to present their findings in a way they find meaningful, Sacriponte said. For some it’s a letter to the soldier, others a song. Ricardo chose to render a drawing  based on the only photograph the family had of Graham in uniform. The project culminates when the students present their findings beside the gravestones of the fallen. 

Stevens’ presentation became something quite special. 

Each day at the cemetery, a few soldiers are honored with a special moment of silence after sand from nearby Anzio Beach, where U.S. soldiers made landfall, is rubbed into the etched markings on the otherwise white crosses. When the sand is rubbed into the cross, their names are highlighted for a while, until time and nature rinse it clean again. That day this spring, Stevens herself rubbed the sand across her great-great-uncle’s headstone, finally honoring him the way his family has been wanting to for nearly 80 years. 

“There is a very high possibility that I will be the only family member to ever visit because traveling abroad is not such a common thing, especially for my family,” Stevens said. “So knowing that, I was thinking of my Gigi especially that day, and knowing how much this would’ve meant to her, just meant the world.”

“Getting to call my grandma after and share the whole experience with her and share the videos–I just felt so extremely honored.”

Stevens is the only Duquesne in Rome student to date with a known family member buried in the cemetery, Wright said. It was a powerful moment for everyone. 

“It almost felt like fate that this happened in the way it did,” Stevens said. “Everything happens for a reason and I'm so thankful for my experience.”

 

Story by Elizabeth Shestak published in print, in part for Spring 2024 Duquesne Magazine.