Belleville Historical Society member Emmanuel Ramos-Jaramilo adjusts the flag at the grave of 19-year-old U.S.Marine Corps Private Richard Bates of Nutley.
The Belleville Historical Society will commemorate Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day March 28 at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield in a 4 p.m. ceremony. Last year, the society identified and cleaned the more than 200 gravestones of all of the Vietnam soldiers buried in the veterans circle, half of whom were killed in action. In Row F, 21 young soldiers killed in Vietnam rest side by side, including Belleville sons Donald Saunders and Paul Nelson and Nutley sons Richard Bates and Thomas Van Houten.
More than 7 million American soldiers served in Vietnam with more than 58,000 losing their lives and more than 150,000 wounded. Another 300,000 would later die from the effects of Agent Orange and 30% of veterans suffered from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Almost 70% of those who served in Vietnam have died. The society invites everyone to join them and local veterans in remembering and saluting all Vietnam veterans. For more information, contact Michael Perrone at bellevillehistory@gmail.com or (201) 687-1431.
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. ClickHere to send Kevin an email.
