A 19-year-old solider has finally been accounted for 72 years after he was first reported missing during the Korean War.
Joseph J. Puopolo, 19, from Massachusetts, in the US, was reported to have died in a prisoner of war camp after going missing in action on December 2, 1950.
He was an artilleryman with the 8th Army when his unit tried to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, following the Battle of Ch'ongch'on.
According to four prisoner of war camps in 1953, he had passed away at one in February, 1951.
It was only after the war when the sides swapped bodies, individuals were identified.
But sadly those who were unable to be identified were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
However, a set of unidentified remains were dug up in December 2019 and were later revealed to belong to Joseph in August this year - thanks to dental, anthropological and DNA analysis.
The family of the missing solider are set to hold a burial service in the next month at the family's plot in Malden.
He was one of six children and, according to relatives, there could be as many as 70 relatives turning up to pay tribute to him.
99-year-old sister Elizabeth Fiorentini has waited over 72 years to find out what happened to her brother.
Joseph's grandnephew, Graham, told CBS News : "We have all heard about him, and we all knew of him, and we all knew he was a war hero. We always hoped we'd find him.
"But I never thought my grandmother would be here for it."
More than 7,500 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to the Army.
The remains of more than 450 Americans have been identified and returned back to their families since 1982.
Furthermore, around 2,000 American remains have been identified in the years following the war after the North Korean government returned remains to U.S custody.
