Photo by Michael Perrone
The May 24 Observer featured a story, “Honoring Belleville’s World War I dead,” about township Historical Society efforts to restore an illegible plaque embedded in the wall of St. Peter’s Church cemetery on William St. As planned, by Memorial Day, it was ready for its official rededication. The marble, weathered away over the decades, has been restored and the names of 13 local Great War casualties can now be read. (All but two of the soldiers are buried on the Western Front, where they died.) But the restoration is not over. Society President Michael Perrone plans to add a replica of a WWI helmet and another plaque explaining that those named were “Sons of St. Peter’s,” meaning they were all parishioners. (Note: The crucifix in the photo, which appears to be standing atop the monument, is a coincidental, and appropriate, trick of perspective. It is actually about 100 feet away, in the cemetery.) — Karen Zautyk.
