Joseph enlisted in the Army at Philadelphia, PA on 12 October 1942.

On 13 October, Pvt Farrison transferred from the Reception Center in New Cumberland, PA to Company A, 508th PIR.

He was later transferred to Hq 1st where he was appointed to Pfc on 17 August 1943.

On 23 June 1944 Pfc Farrison was listed as "slightly injured in action" and evacuated to a field hospital.  The wound, however, must have been more significant as on 27 September he had still not returned to duty and was instead transferred to the hospital's Detachment of Patients. He did not return to the regiment.

Joseph submitted a Pennsylvania WWII Veteran Bonus application on 1 February 1950 and was credited for a total of 31 months of service, 13 of which were overseas.  Shown in the details is the date when his foreign service ended, 12 January 1945, nearly three months after being transferred permanently to the hospital patient group.

Still another three months of hospitalization ensued in the Kennedy General Hospital, Memphis, TN where he was discharged on 13 April 1945.  The following year he married Miss Marie G Lockey in Philadelphia, PA. 

Joseph was employed as a pipefitter by the Publicker Commercial Alcohol Co. (seen here in a 1947 photo) at the corner of Snyder Avenue and Swanson Street, in South Philadelphia's river-front district, where at one time it churned out 90,000 gallons of whiskey a day including the brand of Old Hickory bourbon.

Death Certificate
shows that Joseph succumbed to a coronary occlusion on 29 January 1961.

Burial Record
in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, Springfield (Delaware county), Pennsylvania.

Application For Headstone
 indicates that Joseph was awarded a Bronze Star Medal although that award does not appear on 508th records to date. However the date of his death greatly preceded the automatic award to all recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge and implies that this was a combat award perhaps relating to the day he was injured.