Page 10 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 7, 2022 MEMORY | FROM PAGE 1 memory of Terri O’Brien, an Everett resident and longtime Bread of Life volunteer, who worked in the Everett food pantry and mobile market and was instrumental in developing their Backpack Nutrition Program for Everett Public School students. The funds raised were used directly for programs helping them feed neighbors in need in Everett, Malden and 11 surrounding communities. Bread of Life officials: Executive Director Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, Board of Directors Recording Secretary Jana Gimenez and Board of Directors Member Anne Gelineau-Powers sold raffle tickets. Members of Team Terri, for whom the walk was dedicated, during Saturday’s Bread Of Life Walk at Pine Banks Park. Pictured from left to right: Harry Bond, Julia Bourgea, Frank Kelly Jr., Laura Miranda, Frank Kelly, Monica Medeiros Solano, Mayor Gary Christenson, Elizabeth Lombardozzi, Dana Brown, Mary Beth Leon and her granddaughter, Amelia. Mayor Gary Christenson (in navy jacket in center) and former MHS Principal Dana Brown (in Malden Cares sweatshirt at far right), were among the walkers during Saturday’s Bread of Life Walk at Pine Banks Park. (Advocate photos by Tara Vocino) Walkers neared the finish line at Pine Banks Park. They included an Encore Boston Harbor Team and an Everett Community Growers team. SOLDIER| FROM PAGE 1 was one of many teenaged recruits who fought for his country in the Korean War waged by the United States military and Allied forces from 1950-1953. The U.S.-led military intervention began when the Communist-backed North Korean Army invaded democratic South Korea with the intention of annexing that portion of the Korean peninsula. In late 1950, Puopolo was a member of C Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division Artillery, 8th U.S. Army. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit attempted to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on. In 1953, four POWs who returned during “Operation Big Switch” – a mass prisoner of war exchange – reported Puopolo had been a prisoner of war and died in February 1951 at Prisoner of War Camp #5, which was located in Pyoktong along the Yalu River in North Korea. Cpl. Puopolo, who was just 19 years of age the year he died in captivity, was living in East Boston at the time of his service in the Korean War, but he was part of a large and well-known Malden family that had roots in the local community for many years. Recently, using data from many sources and through its own intensive investigation, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Patricia Kelly announced raffle winners at the end of the walk. Agency announced that Cpl. Joseph J. Puopolo, who died as a prisoner of war, was accounted for on Aug. 23, 2022. “As a kid one of the things we knew was we had a war hero in our family. We always believed we’d find him,” said Richard Graham, of Needham, of his late granduncle. “It’s a really big thing that’s happening; our family is very happy to know we’re going to get this closure.” Graham, Cpl. Puopolo’s grandnephew, recalled stories about his ultimate sacrifice and the bravery Cpl. Puopolo and his battalion mates showed in an online interview. “Joseph Puopolo was a prisoner of war. He was captured and he was a war hero. He fought against North Korea and Chinese forces,” Graham said. “These guys fought until the last bullet. They didn’t just surrender. They ran out of ammo,” Graham continued. “They were cut off from the lines and they had no possible way of defending themselves once their guns were gone.” Cpl. Puopolo also has a 99-year-old sister, Elizabeth, who resides in Winthrop. The family expects Joseph Puopolo’s remains will be flown from Hawaii to Logan Airport sometime this month. A military and State Police escort will stop at his old East Boston address before a burial with full military SOLDIER| SEE PAGE 11
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