The Belleville Historical Society observes Vietnam War Veterans Day Saturday, March 29, at noon in the Glendale Cemetery veterans circle in Bloomfield. There are 271 young men who served in Vietnam buried in the veterans circle, scores of whom were killed in action and all the others dying a few years after the war, most likely from the effects of Agent Orange or other injuries. More than 58,000 American servicemembers died in Vietnam and more than 300,000 were wounded. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The last two U.S. servicemen lost in Vietnam were two Marines who were killed in action when Saigon fell on April 29, 1975. During the past two years, the Belleville Historical Society located and cleaned the gravestones of all 271 Vietnam servicemen buried in the Glendale Cemetery veterans section. The graves will all be marked with American flags for the ceremony. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the society has also located and been cleaning and setting flags on the gravestones of U.S. servicemembers killed in action in Vietnam, buried in cemeteries in Kearny, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Montclair, Clifton, Newark and other towns.
Here. Belleville Historical Society member Emmanuel Ramos-Jaramilo sets flags on the graves of Vietnam soldiers killed in action at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield in 2024.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served 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 social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, 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 Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.