U.S. Army Pvt. Joseph A. Gala, who was killed fighting in Burma in July 1944, was buried in his hometown of Lynn on Thursday, Nov. 5, more than 82 years after his death, NBC10 Boston reported. Gala was 21. Family members, veterans and community members attended the military burial, which included a three-volley rifle salute and the playing of “Taps.”
Related: Parade Saturday, Half Marathon Sunday, Holiday Wednesday: Boston Closures.
Who he was
Gala graduated from Lynn English High School, NBC10 Boston reported. He was assigned to the 5307th Composite Unit, known as Merrill’s Marauders, which fought Japanese forces in jungle combat during World War II.
He was killed during fighting near Myitkyina, Burma. His remains could not be identified at the time.
How he was identified
Gala was among the unidentified American service members buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, NBC10 Boston reported. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency later began exhuming unidentified remains from the Battle of Myitkyina.
Scientists identified him using dental and anthropological analysis, circumstantial evidence and DNA testing, the station reported. He was officially accounted for on Sept. 10, 2025.
A family’s wait
Gala’s mother was too heartbroken to speak about her son for much of her life, his niece Rose DiGregory told NBC10 Boston.
“Our parents took so long to find this out, and they always wanted to and, finally, it’s happened,” DiGregory said.
“They brought him home to Lynn,” one veteran at the service said, according to the station.
Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11. More coverage is in our Boston news section and military section.
Sources
Read next in Boston Local News
Most read this week
- Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood Claims: What’s Confirmed and What Isn’t
- Stock Futures Erase a 2.4% Overnight Drop as Markets Digest Democrats’ Sweep of Congress
- Spain Transport Minister Óscar Puente Quits 26 Days Before Election Over Crash That Killed 69
- Boston Plans to Close 3 Schools in 2028 as Enrollment Drops as Much as 58%
- GM Korea’s Sales Jump 26.6% on Chevrolet Exports as Hyundai Slips 6.3% and Korean Factory Growth Cools
Latest
- Bikers and Bug Conservationists Unite Against Google’s Planned Data Center East of London
- Tesla Expands Robotaxi Service to San Antonio, Another City Where Waymo Already Operates
- To Keep Students Thinking in the AI Era, a South Korean City Turns to St. John’s College and the Great Books
- Trump Calls Jensen Huang an ‘Honorable Guy’ as Yale’s Sonnenfeld Puts the Nvidia CEO’s Survival at ‘About a 50-50’
- Rosneft Limits Gasoline Sales in Several Russian Regions as Ukrainian Refinery Strikes Continue, Reports Say