Atria Draper Place Resident Celebrates His 100Th Birthday

On August 17th, 2018, Atria Draper Place’s resident, Joseph Manella, celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends.
Joe was born and raised in Milford, MA during the 1920s and 1930s. After the fateful day of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Joe immediately quit his job as a local machinist in Hopedale and joined the Army Air Corps as a bombardier. He flew dozens of successful missions over China and other Asian countries, but unfortunately on September 15, 1943 Joe’s plane was shot down over French Indonesia (now North Vietnam). Since Joe was privy to the air force’s exclusive “Norden Bombsight” information on how to drop bombs accurately, he was cruelly interrogated and given harsher treatment when he would not disclose any information. Joe was a POW for over two years; he was not liberated until after the Japanese surrendered in 1945.
Once back stateside after the war, Mr. Manella married Anne Polumbo, from Franklin, and raised five children. Joe also took advantage of the G.I. bill to attend college, completing his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Boston University, and went on to become an educator in the Milford Public School system before retiring in 1978. During this time as well, he continued to work in the Air Force reserves, serving on rescue missions in Brazil and Chile and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
After he “retired,” Mr. Manella became ordained and served the Worcester Roman Catholic Diocese in various capacities, and in 1990 came to be the Deacon at Sacred Heart in both Hopedale, and Milford. A stained glass window Joe had commissioned for his wife’s memory can now be seen at the Sacred Heart Church in Hopedale. When asked to give words of wisdom, Joe stated “Stand up for something. Take your time and believe! (As he holds his beloved cross displayed proudly around his neck).”