Little information is available on Joseph Farino's childhood.
Joseph was drafted into the Army and after basic training was assigned to the 338th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry (Custer) Division. This is the same division that Heroes
Leroy Barnes,
William Carey,
Walter Ford and
James Marinelli served.
The 85th was the second all-draftee division to enter combat during World War II. The division was activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in the spring of 1942. They received advanced training in the swamps of Louisiana, and desert training in California.
Joseph’s division arrived overseas at Casablanca on January 2, 1944. They received amphibious training in Algeria and then sent north of the Garigliano River to defend against the GUSTAV Line. The GUSTAV Line was a German heavily fortified defensive line south of Rome, which virtually ground the Allied forces to a halt.