Man Builds Memorial to Fallen Troops

Chet Borowski updates a page on his makeshift memorial for every coalition soldier killed since Sept. 11, 2001, outside his home in Sharon, Wis., Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) (Morry Gash - AP)

He and his fiancee, Jules Petter, have held the makeshift wall in place during storms, and he's flirted with frostbite working in 20-below temperatures.

He spends his days off working on the memorial. He sets up a traveling version at high schools and parks, and dreams of a permanent one.

Borowski hesitates to share his feelings about the Iraq war, but he said he's frustrated with the Bush administration because he feels it had no exit strategy and he's angry with the Iraqis, whom he said want to kill the same people who rescued them from Saddam Hussein.

He also said he's tired of searching for news of the war's casualties.

"I want to rest," he said. "I want these men and women to stop dying."

Petter, 47, said she often cries when Borowski tells her the troops' stories. She won't let him quit.

"I tell him you've gone this far. You will not stop," she said. "These people are somebody's story."

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On the Net:

Coalition Memorial: http://www.coalitionmemorial.org/