THE WALL OF FACES

PFC Joseph A. Cross, 18, a paratrooper with the 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cross, of 1813 W. Stiles st.
Cross went to Vietnam in May, and recently spent almost two months in hospital with malaria. He was killed a week ago while crossing a river with a patrol. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School.
Cross' mother, Mrs. Mildred Perry, said she received a dozen birthday roses from him last Wednesday.
Besides his parents, he is survived by six brothers, Army Sp/4 Frank Cross Jr; Willie, Horace, Larry, Joel and Samuel, and two sisters, Christine and Dorothy.

Joseph is buried at Arlington Nat Cem.

Article taken from the Philadelphia Daily News of October 26, 1987. The special supplement entitled, 'SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY,' was published in conjunction with the dedication of the Philadelphia Viet Nam Memorial.

Cross enlisted in the Army in October 1965 after attending Benjamin Franklin High School. The private first class was shipped to Viet Nam in April 1966 and spent about two months in the hospital with malaria. Cross, an ammunition bearer, was assigned to Company A of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. He drowned on November 15, 1966, when he fell from a rope while attemping to cross a river. His mother had just received a dozen roses from him. Survivors included his parents, six brothers and two sisters.