A Tribute Before War's End

Started by One Va. Man, Memorial Is Intended to Honor Troops Now

Staff Sgt. Joshua Clark of Chicago, right, and Sgt. Anthony Tuccio of Falls Church take part in a ceremony for the memorial in Manassas. (By Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)

The slash of black granite catches the eye, a 45,000-pound statement sitting there on the side of Route 28 in Manassas. Like a small echo of the Vietnam memorial before it, the seven-foot-high wall is dedicated to fallen troops.

But although most memorials come years, even decades, after the wars they represent, this one honors Americans who have -- and will -- die in Iraq and Afghanistan. And although most are commissioned, this one was started by one man.

"This is my contribution to this country," said Kevin Roustazad, 46. "This is my way of thanking this country for all it has given me."

The memorial evokes a tombstone erected before the dying lay dead. Something that seemingly comes too soon -- before the mourning can mend into memories.

To grasp the significance of this memorial in a region where monuments are commonplace, it is important to understand Roustazad. To understand how a 15-year-old boy who came from Iran alone -- and took jobs in kitchens where he could also find food -- came to be a businessman. To understand why his eyes sometimes water when he talks about America.

Roustazad has created the memorial beside his business and against a backdrop of constant commuter traffic. By Memorial Day, he hopes to find a permanent home for it, then start the etching. The face of each serviceman and woman killed will be depicted in porcelain with biographical information written in the stone underneath. The wall, 25 feet long, has room for 5,600 faces. As of yesterday, the total number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts was 2,653, according to the Pentagon. More stones can be added to the wall if needed.

"If you go to the Vietnam memorial, you see a wall of Smiths, a wall of Joneses," Roustazad said. On this wall, you will see your Jones, be able to recognize your Smith. "So when you come, you will have a connection."

The monument will cost about $400,000 to finish, paid in part out of Roustazad's pocket and from a fund that has been started. The plan is to call it Silent Thunder Memorial for Freedom, in reference to Rolling Thunder, the Memorial Day ride by thousands of motorcyclists through the District. The hope is to have bicyclists come to Silent Thunder.

"You don't need the motorcycles," Roustazad said. "You will have the faces that will be loud enough. They will be the thunder from within."

On a recent Sunday in Manassas, about 50 people gathered outside Eastern Memorials, which is owned by Roustazad and Andy Del Gallo, a stone carver whose mother is German and father Italian. Uniformed men and women, a mix of active duty and veterans, stood hand-to-forehead in a salute to the raising of the U.S. flag as taps played. It was a scaled-down version of a grand ceremony. A car alarm sounded through half of it, and the speakers' voices competed with the wind and traffic.

National Guard member Alith Saengchanh, 19, had volunteered a day earlier to participate when he was told there was a local effort to honor troops.

"I would rather recognize them now than 20 years down the road," he said.