Joseph Rocco Iosco was born on September 23, 1912 in New York City, New York. He was the firstborn child of Annie Benedetto, a native New Yorker, and Francesco Antonio Iosco, an Italian immigrant. The couple would go on to have 4 more sons, Dominick, John, Charles and Henry, and one daughter, Mildred. Sometime before the birth of Joseph's oldest sibling, Dominick, the family moved from New York City to Lyndhurst, New Jersey, where all of Joseph's siblings were born.

He graduated from Lyndhurst High School in Lyndhurst, New Jersey and also attended Newark Preparatory School. After his graduation, Joseph worked at Federal Shipyards in Kearny, New Jersey.

On April 8, 1942, Joseph enlisted in the Army. He attended training in Salina, Kansas and Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Joseph was killed in a plane crash on August 1, 1943. According to American Air Museum in Britain, his plane was "lost near the target, Ploesti [Romania], AA hit point blank at 30 feet or less from a Rumanian 80 mm."

After his enlistment, Joseph never received a furlough and, therefore, never saw his family again, but he frequently sent letters home. According to an article published in the August 19, 1943 edition of The Herald-News (a Passaic, New Jersey newspaper), the last letter his family received was dated July 31, 1943, the day before Joseph was killed. The letters Joseph sent during his nearly 16 months of service were described in the article as always being "cheerful" and "humourous, confident and consoling." At the time of his death, 2 of Joseph's younger brothers, Dominick and Charles, were serving in the Air Force. Coincidentally, Lieutenant Paul Cappacio, who lived "directly across the street" from the Iosco family, was also killed in a separate military plane crash around the time of Joseph's death.

Joseph was survived by both of his parents, 4 younger brothers, Dominick, John, Charles and Henry, and younger sister, Mildred.

Joseph R Iosco