92-Year-Old Natick Veteran Still Serves His Community
NATICK (CBS) -- A World War 2 veteran who spent at least 30 years preserving the memory of his comrades in arms received some well-deserved recognition Saturday.
The veteran is 92 years young Muzzie Franciose of Natick, and he says he loves to serve his country and community.
"It means a lot to me and lived around here a long time. It's a great neighborhood," Franciose said.
In fact the only thing he loves more than serving is not being recognized for it.
Joseph Muzzie Franciose is a WWII Navy Veteran who spent time in the Pacific aboard an aircraft carrier. While he was still overseas the town built a memorial for the 213 service members who served from Natick .
Over the years the memorial deteriorated. That's when Muzzie decided to serve in a different way.
For the past 30 years Muzzie has been rebuilding the memorial at Robert Williams Park. He did all the fundraising replace the stone wall, to the flowers and walkway. Many people ask him why he did it.
"I did it because I came from great neighborhood and people are nice," Muzzie said.
Another Natick veteran applauds Muzzie's effort.
"He went ahead with pennies, bottles, and cans for 12-14 years and you see this beautiful park. What he did, it's no small thing," the veteran said.
Muzzie's nephew Rick White says Muzzie did a lot of the work on his own.
"He single-handedly started the fund-raising efforts to put this memorial back," White said.
For his dedication to the community, he's now being recognized with his own memorial right next to the one he's been rebuilding himself.
"It was a lot of work," Muzzie said.
"I couldn't be prouder, he's humble guy he didn't do it for any recognition. He doesn't understand what the fuss is all about," his nephew Rick White said.