Joseph A. DePalma was 44 when he went to work at the Heritage Building in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on June 21, 1972. That day a private security guard, Edwin Grace, opened fire inside the office building. DePalma was one of twelve people shot and one of six who died in what came to be called the Heritage Building Massacre.

Contemporaneous reports described Grace as a quiet man and a regular churchgoer; investigators focused on him as the lone perpetrator. Accounts from the time suggested his attack may have been sparked by anger toward an employment agency located in the building. After the shootings Grace wounded himself in an apparent suicide attempt and was taken into custody and charged with multiple murders. The legal proceedings turned on questions about his mental state at the time.

If anyone knew Joseph DePalma or was working in that building on June 21, 1972, any recollections could help preserve the record of what happened.