Staff Sergeant

The best drill instructor in this here Army, that's William Krewal. You would expect the Army's drill sergeant of the year to be out there in the field, shaping up the troops, but after he won the title in April, that's not what happened. "I was really starting to get good at it, really starting to love it," said Krewal, who has been stationed at Fort Dix for nearly 2 1/2 years. Once he won the title, he was made an adviser on drill sergeant matters. He became an observer, charged with seeing how training could be improved.

James M. DeLeon Jr., 90, of Bensalem, a decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War and a mortician for nearly half a century, died of acute dementia Monday at Paul's Run Retirement Community, where he had lived for 10 years. "My father survived battles in the Philippines for three years and in Korea for 18 months and was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts," said his son James M. DeLeon III, a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge. "He was an old soldier who faded away.

Joseph Anthony Cella, 89, a Philadelphia firefighter for 32 years, died Wednesday, Sept. 22, in his sleep at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living residence in Cherry Hill. He was 89 and had emphysema. Mr. Cella joined the Fire Department in 1947. For most of his career, he was stationed at Engine 1, Ladder 5 in South Philadelphia. After retiring in 1979, Mr. Cella, a journeyman plumber, was a handyman for friends and relatives, repairing anything from toys to toilets, his daughter, Angela Costanzo, said.

Joseph K. "Ken" Blewitt, 80, a retired Whitemarsh Township police chief and retired deputy coroner for Montgomery County, died Monday of cancer at his home in Lafayette Hill. He retired as police chief in 1979 after 27 years with the Whitemarsh force, then was deputy coroner until 1988. His professional memberships included Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 14 in Montgomery County, the International Association of Police Chiefs, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association, the Montgomery County Police Chiefs Association and FBI National Academy Associates.

James R. Butler, 63, of Bensalem, a former insurance underwriter who had been active in youth activities, died Friday at Saint Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township. He had retired on disability in the 1970s after many years as an independent underwriter. During his 36 years in Bensalem, Mr. Butler had served on the Bensalem school board and for 15 years coached diving at the high school. He also coached Babe Ruth League baseball, worked with the Boy Scouts, and was a foster parent through various agencies.

A staff sergeant in the Army's 82d Airborne Division has been charged with raping a housekeeper at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel in King of Prussia on Sunday. Terry J. Hough, 28, who is based at Fort Bragg, N.C., told the housekeeper that he had lost his room key and asked whether she could let him in his room, according to a police affidavit. After she opened the door, he forced her inside and raped her, the affidavit said. He also struck the 47-year-old woman in the face several times, the report said.

Elliot Sugarman, 70, of Jamesburg, N.J., a fund-raising executive, died Wednesday at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, N.J. Mr. Sugarman was director of fund-raising activities at the Philadelphia office of Israel's Weismann Institute of Science. He retired in 1988 and moved to Jamesburg, a retirement community in Monroe Township, several years ago. During the 1970s, he was executive director of the city offices for Israeli bonds in Boston and Philadelphia. In the 1960s, he was fund-raising director for Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

One soldier playfully put on Marty Biron's mask and exchanged a laugh with the goalie in the Flyers' dressing room after yesterday's practice in Voorhees. Eleven soldiers, on a brief leave from their Army base in Fort Dix, N.J., watched practice and later posed for photos with the Flyers, had pucks signed, and exchanged stories with the players. The soldiers, all wounded and rehabbing after tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, were guests of the hockey club. Mingling with the players is fun, said James Fisher, a staff sergeant from Wilkes-Barre.

There's a man from the Panjwai district of Afghanistan who could swap stories with Job and possibly come out on top. When Nazim Shah returned home from a trip to nearby Kandahar, he found his entire family dead. They had been murdered by an American soldier. On Sunday, the unidentified Army staff sergeant, a veteran of deployments in Iraq, left his base without permission and wandered into a nearby village shortly before dawn. He then allegedly entered several homes with his high-powered guns blazing.

Gerald Postell had come to see a friend. In his pocket, the former Marine sergeant carried a well-worn military paper explaining why O.V. Curry was not standing with him yesterday at the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial near Penn's Landing. "We joined up together and he never came home," said Postell. "He was in a helicopter crash. " Now Curry's name is among the war dead on the memorial wall. And Postell was drawn there yesterday on a day meant for remembering the human price of war. "I was against the war when I came home," said Postell, 49, a North Philadelphia native who now lives in Somerdale, Camden County.

There's a man from the Panjwai district of Afghanistan who could swap stories with Job and possibly come out on top. When Nazim Shah returned home from a trip to nearby Kandahar, he found his entire family dead. They had been murdered by an American soldier. On Sunday, the unidentified Army staff sergeant, a veteran of deployments in Iraq, left his base without permission and wandered into a nearby village shortly before dawn. He then allegedly entered several homes with his high-powered guns blazing.

WASHINGTON - President Obama awarded the nation's highest military honor yesterday to Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry after describing how the soldier took enemy fire in Afghanistan but still grabbed a live grenade to save his comrades. "This is the stuff of which heroes are made," the president declared. It was just the second time that a living, active-duty service member from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has received a Medal of Honor. Petry, who lost his hand in the incident and wears a prosthesis, looked on from a stage in the East Room with his wife and children in the audience as the president described his heroics that day. It unfolded on May 26, 2008, in the remote east of Afghanistan, as Petry - then a staff sergeant - and other Rangers choppered toward an insurgent compound, the president said.

ANGELINA MONZO was a legendary cook of Italian dishes that are not exactly known as diet food. People who partook of her delicious pasta and other savory fare got pleasantly fat, but Angelina never did. "She was never more than 120 pounds," said her son, Frank Monzo Jr. "Her secret was portions, everything in small quantities. " Whatever, it worked for her. She turned 99 on Nov. 12, still thin, although suffering the effects of a stroke in November. Angelina Monzo, who operated a paint and hardware store at 19th and Hoffman streets with her husband for 45 years, died Sunday.

Anthony G. (Tony) Del Beato, 92, of Brookhaven, a longtime newsprint warehouse foreman for The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, died Monday, Dec. 13, of natural causes at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. Mr. Del Beato was a newsprint foreman for 40 years before retiring in 1988 at the age of 70. He started as a paper handler and worked his way up to foreman. He always worked the night shift, his family said. Born in Philadelphia, he lived in South Philadelphia for many years but moved in 2008 to Brookhaven, Delaware County.

Joseph Anthony Cella, 89, a Philadelphia firefighter for 32 years, died Wednesday, Sept. 22, in his sleep at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living residence in Cherry Hill. He was 89 and had emphysema. Mr. Cella joined the Fire Department in 1947. For most of his career, he was stationed at Engine 1, Ladder 5 in South Philadelphia. After retiring in 1979, Mr. Cella, a journeyman plumber, was a handyman for friends and relatives, repairing anything from toys to toilets, his daughter, Angela Costanzo, said.

Eugene Black Jr., 78, of Mount Holly, a decorated Army veteran who rose through the ranks of Burlington County College to become director of admissions at the Cinnaminson branch, died Feb. 22 following surgery complications at Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly. After a 22-year military career, Mr. Black settled in South Jersey and started working for Burlington County College in the shipping and receiving department in the mid-1970s. While working full-time, Mr. Black took classes locally through Pepperdine University and a few years later received a bachelor's degree in human resource management.

One soldier playfully put on Marty Biron's mask and exchanged a laugh with the goalie in the Flyers' dressing room after yesterday's practice in Voorhees. Eleven soldiers, on a brief leave from their Army base in Fort Dix, N.J., watched practice and later posed for photos with the Flyers, had pucks signed, and exchanged stories with the players. The soldiers, all wounded and rehabbing after tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, were guests of the hockey club. Mingling with the players is fun, said James Fisher, a staff sergeant from Wilkes-Barre.

While heading home on leave from Iraq, two Alpha Company soldiers were cheered and applauded as they passed through the Dallas airport. But the pair had just learned that four of their comrades back in Salahuddin province had been killed in a bomb attack. "We were in no mood to be greeted as heroes by a bunch of happy people," Sgt. Greg Torricellas of Havertown remembered. "There were all these people wanting to hug you and kiss you," he said. "There was even one guy who tried to give me a handful of $20 bills.

James M. DeLeon Jr., 90, of Bensalem, a decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War and a mortician for nearly half a century, died of acute dementia Monday at Paul's Run Retirement Community, where he had lived for 10 years. "My father survived battles in the Philippines for three years and in Korea for 18 months and was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts," said his son James M. DeLeon III, a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge. "He was an old soldier who faded away.