Michael A. Flynn Jr.

Michael Flynn, 20, was said to have been riding on a train in a boxcar with other soldiers. They were horsing around when Michael fell off and under the train and was killed instantly on Dec. 7, 1918.

Throughout their lives they were inseparable and now both were honored in a joint funeral in Belleville. They were buried side by side in St. Peter’s Cemetery.

Belleville Pays Tribute To War Heroes

Edward Crowell Jr.  and Michael Flynn Jr. return to Belleville

Belleville paid final tribute to two of its war heroes yesterday at the joint military funerals of Private Edward Joseph Crowell, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Crowell, 19 Factory Street, and Private Michael A. Flynn, Jr.,  son of Police Chief Flynn.

Throngs lined Washington Avenue as the cortege proceeded from St. Peter's Catholic Church to St. Peter's Cemetery. The bodies were borne on gun caissons. The photo shows the body of Private Flynn in the foreground, as the procession was passing the Town Hall.

Chums in boyhood, comrades in enlisting in the army, these two youths who made the supreme sacrifice in accidents far from the battle fronts after participating in some of the fiercest engagements of the war, went together to their graves, which lie side by side.

To honor these heroes, both of whom had been decorated for valorous conduct in fighting, the American Legion Post and the George Younginger and Abraham Lincoln Posts, Veterans of Foreign Wars, united yesterday to form the escort for the procession. 

- Newark Star-Eagle

The following is adapted from
St. Peter's Church, Belleville, New Jersey - 150 Years

On May 29, 1929, a section of the St. Peter's Church rectory grounds at the corner of William and Dow streets was dedicated a monument to the memory of the men had lost their lives in the "several wars."

Five thousand people attended the ceremonies including John Barrett, the last of the Civil War veterans in Belleville; veterans of the Spanish American War and World War I; and members of the American Legion and its Ladies Auxiliary, as well as several other organizations.

The ceremony was described as beautiful and moving. The address of presentation to the church was made by John A. Matthews, and the speech of acceptance made by a former congressman, James Hammill.

Five thousand voices were raised to sing the "Star Spangled Banner," while Lt. Edward J. Lister of the Foreign Legion raised the flag to the top of the monument.

Bishop Walsh led the congregation in the salute to the flag, and then the crowd sang "Holy God We Praise Thy Name."

Taps were sounded in memory of the war dead, and a salute fired under the direction of Lt. Commander Morrow of the U.S. Navy.

Names of those inscribed in the monument who lay down their lives for their country included Harry Benjamin Blekike, Carmen Carruccio, Edward Crowell, Michael Augustus Flynn, Henry Charles Hoag, Edward Joseph Kane, Charles McGinty, Thomas Joseph Mooney, Michael John Murray, Charles Aloysius Schaffer, William Thomas Smith, Edward W. Stochman, and George John Kalvio.

This monument has since been relocated to a place of honor at the main entrance to the cemetery." 

Newspaper clippings and photos provided by Ed Morrows

Sources:

Ed Morrows, grandnephew of Edward Crowell

Newark Star-Eagle

St. Peter's Church, Belleville, New Jersey - 150 Years

State of New Jersey Dept. of State Div. of Archives & Records Management: World War I Casualties: Descriptive Cards and Photographs.