Belleville Sons Honor Roll

Belleville Street Naming In Honor
of Belleville Sons Killed In Service

 July 15, 2017

Giavanni Bocchino, Lake St., KIA WWII,

Nicholas Del Grosso, Mt. Prospect Ave. at Belleville Ave., KIA WWII,

Frank H. Metzler, Joralemon St. at Reservoir Place, KIA WWII

June 17, 2017

Carl L Mickens, Joralemon St. at Wilber St., KIA Vietnam.

Angelo Patrizio, Watchung Ave. at Cross St., KIA WWII

 July 8, 2017

Edward J. Zuczek, Gless Ave. at Meacham St., Killed in Peacetime

Raymond DeLuca, Meacham St. at Memphis Ave., KIA Vietnam

Belleville 4th of July Independence Day Ceremony

JULY 4, 2017 – Dutch Reformed Church cemetery, 171 Main St, Belleville, N.J. 07109 (Main Street at Rutgers Street)

Join us as we honor the Belleville men who fought in the War of Independence and other heroic soldiers who paid for our freedom. Come share our town's rich history.

The Independence Day ceremony will honor Belleville's first troops, the more than five dozen Revolutionary War Soldiers buried at the church, one of the largest groups of 1776 patriots buried at any one site in the United States.

 Among the scores of officers and enlisted men, the cemetery is the final resting place of Capt. Josiah Hornblower, patriot leader who also served in the Continental Congress.

 Manus Brown, of the Spring Garden area of Nutley, the only known local militia man KIA, is buried in the Dutch Reformed Church cemetery.

 Joseph Hornblower, of Second River (Belleville) also KIA, is buried on the battlefield in Piscataway where he died.

 The site is located along the Washington Retreat Route, and which left behind a contingent of local militia who fought in what is now Belleville Park along Mill Street, site of the only battle fought in Essex County during the American Revolution.

 The ceremony will include the roll call of the troops, the laying of a memorial wreath, the national anthem, the firing of a 21-gun cannon salute and "Taps."

 Also buried in the cemetery is Captain Henry Benson who died Aug. 11. 1862, of his wounds following the battle of Malvern Hill, Va., on July 1.

  July 4, 2017 - Former Belleville Dutch Reformed Church cemetery at Iglesia Pentecostal La Senda Antigua, 171 Main St., at the corner of Main and Rutgers streets.

Sponsored by the Belleville Historical Society

In June 2016, Belleville Township Council passed a resolution to dedicate certain streets in town to servicemen who hailed from the municipality. The goal is to honor 160 Belleville sons who died while in service within the next year.

As we add these signs, we are trying to contact relatives of the soldiers to be present at the ceremony. If you are family or know of family of these fallen soldiers, please contact us.

Read More, see who have been honored Police, fireman honored.

Belleville Sons Honor Roll
Remembering the men who paid for our freedom

In the last century, Belleville lost 157 sons while in service to our country. This collection, gathered from newspaper clippings and other sources gathers what we know about these young men in an effort that their sacrifice not be forgotten.  

Belleville Sons Honor Roll includes more information on Belleville actions in the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, the Civil War diary of James C. Taylor, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and peacetime casualties.

Edited by Anthony Buccino and  Andrea Buccino

Available in paperback and on Amazon.

Special Ceremony, July 4, 2015

Private Harmanus Brown was the first known soldier of Nutley to give his life in service to his new country. He is buried at the Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery alongside more than five dozen local veterans of the American Revolution. The Belleville Historical Society dedicated a new monument to Private Harmanus Brown at the old Belleville Dutch Reformed Church on July 4, 2015.