He died fighting for our country in World War II. And now, 80 years after he went missing, Lt. Alfred Pezzella is back home in Massachusetts.
“It’s overwhelming,” great-nephew Vinny Papia of Revere said Friday night.
Pezzella’s plane was shot down over Romania in 1943. The remains of Pezzella and his crew were buried in Romania with others who were unknown, then transferred to Belgium after the war.
In 2017, officials started exhuming the remains.
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“Nobody ever thought it was going to happen,” said Papia. “My mother and a couple of her sisters have recently passed away. It was always something they talked about, their uncle, how special he was.”
Papia says family members were asked for DNA last year, and then the bombshell in April -- Pezzella’s remains had been identified.
“I got the phone call,” said Papia. “It was traumatic, phenomenal, I was on the verge of tears.”
Pezzella grew up in Newton, and joined the military shortly before World War II. He was 27 when he was killed.
“He volunteered,” said Papia. “He was not drafted, he volunteered in 1939, always had a love for airplanes.”
Friday evening, 14 descendants along with military members and law enforcement welcomed Lt. Pezzella back home as his remains arrived in a flag-draped casket at Logan Airport.
“The government doesn’t forget you,” said Papia. “They’ll come and get you, they’ll find you, take you home, even if it takes 80 years.”
The funeral will take place on Tuesday, and then Lt. Pezzella will be laid to rest with full military honors at the Massachusetts Veterans National Cemetery in Bourne.
