By Petula Dvorak, Photo: Courtesy of the Martorella Family, The Washington Post, May 30, 2022
When she was growing up, Memorial Day meant a trip to the Honor Wall in the center of Deana Martorella Orellana’s hometown, where the names of Charleroi, Pa., men who died in the world’s battlefields are etched in black granite.
Her family is making that trip without her this year.
She died with inspirational notes stuffed in her pockets. That March morning in 2016, she had gone to Veterans Affairs and asked for counseling.
She couldn’t talk to her family about how her deployment to Afghanistan changed her — and yes, it changed her, they all said — serving on a female engagement team there.
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