Belleville held its annual Veterans Day parade yesterday, featuring veterans groups, motorcycle clubs, school org organizations as well as an impressive display of military hardware making their way down Union Avenue.
Marchers staged on Union Avenue between Mill Street and Belleville Avenue for the 2 pm kickoff. Residents lined either side of the avenue as the parade rolled north, terminating at the township's veterans memorial, where there was a wreath-laying before a grandstand where sat elected and state military officials.
Also yesterday, a memorial to Henry Svehla was unofficially unveiled. Svehla, a township native and Army private killed in the Korean War, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in May. A formal unveilng of the memorial is tentatively planned for Thursday.
Veterans Day is Friday, Nov. 11.
Among the marchers yesterday were the Nutley VFW Post 493 Color Guard, Belleville's Knights of Columbus, American Legion, the Essex County Emerald Society pipers, local Girl and Boy Scouts as well as groups of students from Schools 3, 5, 10, Belleville Middle School and Belleville High School.
Among speakers yesterday were Sen. Robert Menendez, Rep. Bill Pascrell and Colonel Mark Preston of the New Jersey National Guard.
Carmen Vellon
1:45 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
This article fails to mention the disgraceful behavior of one of our residents, and how disrespectfully he treated local hero and veteran Joseph Fornoratto during the unveiling of the monument.
mdf214
7:48 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
Stop your antics ... read the true story from a newspaper that was there ...
http://www.northjersey.com/news/133399878_Nephew__mortified__over_Belleville_monument_fiasco.html?page=all
Paul Milo
4:22 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
Hey Carmen -- I didn't actually witness it myself. It was very strange they started the ceremony before the parade was finished. I was a few blocks away when this happened.
Carmen Vellon
5:04 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
Thanks Paul, this was a good article and my comment was in no way meant to discredit you. I just thought it was important for the residents to know what happened.
Kevin C
7:06 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
I was a witness to this event and it made me sick to my stomach. On a day when I was with my family to honor those who have risked their lives and given their lives to protect this country, I saw Mr. Richard Yanuzzi practically shove Disabled Veterans Commander Joseph Fornarotto to the ground, squabbling over a black cloth covering a monument honoring late Belleville resident and Medal of Honor recipient Private First Class Henry Svehla. On behalf of all Belleville residents, I want to apologize to the family of Henry Svehla. Please know that most residents of Belleville conduct themselves with much more dignity and decorum than what was on display that day by Mr. Yanuzzi. It would have been really nice to see a proper unveiling of the monument the day of the parade, when the whole town was out in honor of our veterans. To have it still draped in a black cloth seemed improper.
mdf214
7:49 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
http://www.northjersey.com/news/133399878_Nephew__mortified__over_Belleville_monument_fiasco.html?page=all - Read this!
mdf214
7:51 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
As you can see the Svehla family are very distraught over the actions of Mr. FORNAROTTA not Mr. Yannuzzi.
Carmen Vellon
10:49 am on Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The town should not have taken the parade away from the veterans in the first place. Mr. Fornuratto ran that parade for 26 years. They should have appointed Mr. Fornoratto and other veterans from local veterans groups to be on the committee. Instead they appointed a bunch of politicians. Even at the parade the veterans were treated like second class citizens. It's called the Veteran's Day Parade, not the politicians day parade.