Family of Joseph Gulli to have burial in Virginia
Some dates are hard to forget.
For Eugene Gulli, September 27, 1943 is permanently engraved
into his memory. Walking home from Hollister High School during a
lunch break, he remembers seeing his older sister holding a
telegram and his mother hovering around in emotional distress.
Family of Joseph Gulli to have burial in Virginia
Some dates are hard to forget.
For Eugene Gulli, September 27, 1943 is permanently engraved into his memory. Walking home from Hollister High School during a lunch break, he remembers seeing his older sister holding a telegram and his mother hovering around in emotional distress.
The telegram was brief – written to inform the family that their 22-year-old brother and son Joseph Gulli was missing off the New Guinea Coast, after his B-52 plane was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft during World War II.
His remains were never found.
But after 67 years, Joseph Gulli finally will receive the burial and ceremony he never got. On May 13, the surviving family members, some who grew up in Hollister, will reconvene at Arlington National Cemetery to finally get some closure.
“It was a tough time for us – a tough time for everyone,” Eugene Gulli remembered.
Joseph Gulli was one of four brothers in World War II, but he was the only one who didn’t return.
“We never got any real closure,” said his brother, who still resides in Hollister.
The ceremony will take place three days after what would have been his 89th birthday and it will include a full military burial.
“It means so much to this family,” brother Jim Gulli of San Dimas said. “It brings so much closure to the family.”
His sibling was one of 11 children and the loss hurt the family strongly.
“We all really miss him, of course – he was a good guy,” Eugene Gulli said. “Life goes on, but we did have a really tough time over here.”
Of the 11 children, seven of them served in the military. Three others were veterans of the Korean War.
The family’s interest and decision to have an Arlington burial for Joseph Gulli started when sister Barbara Boyle of Hayward was in Washington, D.C. with her husband and discovered that Arlington had a special site for military personnel who were lost and never recovered.
The family applied for a burial and decided that May 13 was the best date, Jim Gulli said.
During the application process the family recovered his six medals, including the Purple Heart.
“We were thrilled to death,” he said of setting up a burial.
The Gullis expect 15 family members and friends to attend the ceremony. They hope the ceremony will be a celebration of his life, and remembrance of what type of a person he was.
The Arlington cemetery will provide the Gulli family with a headstone, color guard, priest and a 21-gun salute.
The family remembers most of all how good Joseph Gulli was with his hands and his love for flying.
“He could carve anything,” Jim Gulli said.
One of his projects included carving a rowboat out of redwood tree to go fishing with friends. But one of Eugene Gulli’s vivid memories was of his brother building a glider that he would take to the top of a hill and glide down.
“We could do anything and everything he did, I always thought was really something spectacular,” his brother said.
