For Donna Duranti and Jo Ann Spata, Joseph Cocco is the uncle they never met.  These sisters only knew the stories of "Uncle Joe," or U.S. Army Private Joseph Cocco, who died fighting in World War II. At 22 years old, the Overbrook native who grew up on the 800 block of North 66th Street was reported missing while in combat in Italy. On Sept. 9, 1943, Cocco was declared dead.

The family shared with CBS News Philadelphia copies of the many letters their grandmother and mother sent to the Army for years searching for him. Each time, the military regretted to say his remains could not be found. "She cried, she cried a lot," Jo Ann said of her grandmother. "I was little, but I remember her crying all the time. I think it stayed with me, the memories of her son."