Joseph Petrella was born in 1921 in New Jersey. He resided in Cape May County, New Jersey prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on July 27, 1942 in Camden, New Jersey. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a typist and also as Single, without dependents. Joseph served as a Corporal and Radio Operator on C-87 #41-23862, India-China Wing, Air Transport Command, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

C-87 #41-23862 took off from Kunming, China on a Cargo Transport Mission to Jorhat, India. The C-87 was not heard from or seen again on January 31, 1944. They were later found, in 1994, to have crashed, possibly due to icing weather, on a mountainside near Lhasa, China where they had been covered by snow and ice for many years.

Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 18, 1946. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. A "Rosette" was placed in front of his name at Manila to signify that his remains were recovered. Joseph was first declared "Missing In Action" and his status was changed to "Killed In Action". Joseph's remain is now interred in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia in a common grave with his crew. It is unknown why the different date on the headstone in Arlington is shown. He also has a cenotaph located in Cape May County Veterans Cemetery, Cape May Court House, Cape May County, New Jersey.

Corporal Petrella was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov