Army Cpl. Joseph Puopolo, an East Boston soldier who served in the Korean War, was laid to rest Saturday – more than 70 years after he went missing.
Family members and law enforcement officials honored Puopolo during an emotional funeral service at Sacred Heart Church, followed by a burial at the Holy Cross Cemetery. Puopolo died at a prisoner of war camp when he was just 19 years old. His return brought a sense of closure for some family members, grand-nephew Richard Graham told NBC10 Boston, including Puopolo’s now 99-year-old sister, Elizabeth Fiorentini.
“I think my grandmother is quite happy now but it took her a while to get there it’s like he died twice in her mind,” Graham said. “It’s one of those moments where we weren’t if it would ever happen but in my mind I always thought it would happen. I just never thought my grandmother would be here to learn about it, which is probably the most exciting part.”
Puopolo, an artilleryman with the 8th Army, was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on, according to the military. Four former POWs reported in 1953 that Puopolo had died at a POW camp in February 1951.
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After the war, the sides exchanged remains, but not all could be identified and those were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, the agency said. A set of previously unidentified remains were disinterred in December 2019, and identified as being those of Puopolo through dental and anthropological analysis, mitochondrial DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence.
In the past three and a half years, the department of defense has brought home more than 5 Massachusetts soldiers from the Korean War and two who served in World War II. More families are expected to receive similar news about their lost loved ones in the coming months, according to Sgt. Jeffrey Hyde of the Massachusetts National Guard.
“We’ll leave no stone unturned to try to bring those lost soldiers home to their families,” Hyde said.
