In Memoriam

MOURNING THEIR LOSS: Family of Marine Cpl. Albert Gettings never imagined he would be a wartime casualty

New Castle News
 

As family and friends of Marine Cpl. Albert Pasquale Gettings mourn his death, they are memorializing him as a hero.

The 27-year-old Marine and New Castle resident was killed by a sniper’s bullet Thursday near Fallujah, Iraq. He was the first serviceman from Lawrence County to be killed in action in Iraq.

His family was notified of his death around 6:30 that evening when fellow Marines in full dress blues with gloves paid a visit to their Fairmont Avenue home. They learned his unit was ambushed while on patrol, and he was shot in the stomach. He was flown to Kuwait, where he later died.

Albert had been in Iraq since September. He was to finish his tour of duty in March with a June discharge.

THE FATEFUL VISIT

When his mother, Julie Gettings, saw two Marine Corps officers at the door, she screamed for her husband.

Two officers walked up the steps with “the longest faces I’ve ever seen,” his father, Dave, said, and he knew what they had to say.

“Marines don’t come in dress blues to tell you your son’s had a nose bleed; they’re there to tell you your son’s been killed.”

He said he had never imagined nor accepted the possibility that his son would become a wartime casualty.

“It’s the worst experience I’ve ever had in my life, barring none,” Dave said. “It’s a parents’ worst nightmare.”

His heart went out to the Marines who brought the tragic news.

“These guys were hurting as much as we were,” he said.

Dave said he has accepted his son’s firm military convictions.

“What’s hard to accept is that he married the best person in the world for him, and they only got to spend three months together,” he said.

THEIR MARRIAGE

Albert is remembered as a family man, a newlywed, an avid baseball player and a Marine.

He married the former Stephanie Palimino on May 29.

Both have large, extended families, and about 800 guests attended their wedding.

When the two Marines delivered the news of her husband’s death, she was helping her cousin with newborn quadruplets.

Her father-in-law phoned her and asked her to come to his house right away.

“She said she didn’t think she could get away just then. I told her it was an emergency, to come right away,” Dave said.

Her brother went with her, and when she saw the Marine caps at the Gettings, she turned to run out. Her brother stopped her.

“There are no words to describe him,” his wife said yesterday, remembering her husband. “He was sweet, he was loving and he was my best friend. He knew me better than I know myself. I cherish every minute I got to spend with him.”

Her uncle, Dennis Joseph Sr., recalls Albert as a youth playing baseball on a team with his son, Denny, that his father coached.

“We learned to love Albert in a hurry,” he said.

He and Albert played on the same softball team in high school and later on an American Legion team.

Albert was to have been in Dennis’ wedding in November, but he left for duty in Iraq two months earlier.

“He was always smiling. I would tease him and he’d get me in a headlock and I’d yell for Stephanie. She’d always stick up for me.

“It’s unthinkable that something like that happened. It’s very upsetting for Stephanie, but he was there because he wanted to be there.”

The Joseph family said that from the moment they met Albert he became a part of the family.

“We will always love him and thank him for loving Stephanie so much,” a family member said.

FAMILY TIES

Lawrence County court administrator Michael Occhibone is Albert’s uncle.

“I came into the family when Albert was 10 years old,” he said.

He said he and his wife, Frances, who is Julie Gettings’ sister, were engaged for a couple of years. When they got married in October 1990, Albert, then 12, was an usher in their wedding.

“We were very proud of him. He wanted to serve his country. I know if he had a chance to do it again, he would.”

He said one thing that made him sad was that Albert’s marriage to Stephanie was so short.

“They didn’t have a chance to live a life together.”

He said Albert initially had considered making the military his career. But when they were married, he decided to return to New Castle and go into business with his father.

“He wanted to start a family.”

MEMORIES

Dr. Carmen Nocera was Albert’s baseball coach at New Castle High School from 1994 to 1996.

Albert and Stephanie purchased a house on Englewood Avenue, three houses away from his home. They were fixing it up in anticipation of Albert’s return.

Nocera, 44, no longer guides the baseball program at New Castle. He is principal at John F. Kennedy and West Side primary schools and is the head baseball coach at Westminster College.

He has only fond memories of Albert. Coaching allows him to develop special bonds with young people under his tutelage, and he remembers Albert as special.

He recalls his former catcher as quiet and a leader.

“He was a little reserved, but you could always count on him.

“He was one of my favorite players. You love those kids who work hard and get the most out of their abilities.”

Albert didn’t see regular varsity playing time until his senior season, but he continued to work hard and wait for his opportunity.

“He was a tough, hard-nosed kid,” said Nocera, who remembers Albert as a dependable hitter who almost always made contact with the baseball.

Nocera believes it was Albert’s work ethic and passion for discipline that drove him toward serving in the armed forces.

Nocera last spoke with him last summer at Sylvan Heights Golf Course. “It was like we picked up right where we had left off from the last time we had been together.

“Albert was the kind of boy you would have been proud to have for a son,” Nocera said, his voice choking with emotion.

“He was such a beautiful young man. I hope and pray that our community will be there for the Gettings family at this time.”



MaryAlice Meli, John Manna, Dave Burcham and Debbie Wachter Morris contributed to this story.