July 4, 2018 • www.theobserver.com • Vol. CXXXI, No. 8
HIGHLIGHTS On behalf of all of us at The Observer, we wish you all a happy 4th of July. Our office will be closed Wednesday, July 4.
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD • EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
vs. Illustration by Michelle Rybeck.
Some fireworks are now legal in New Jersey. But how does one tell? In the illustration above, they’re separated by legal v. illegal. Find out more in the story below and by visiting www.theobserver.com.
By Kevin Canessa kc@theobserver.com
S
ix months before he left office, former Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill that allowed some fireworks to be sold, purchased and set off legally by those 16 and older. We’re not talking about the fireworks you’d see in town over
the Passaic River — or from Macy’s on the East River — each July 4. No, those are still and likely will always will be illegal to buy, sell and set off unless you’re a professional. Still, for the ones that are legal, Kearny Fire Chief Steven Dyl has a word of advice for the public.
“Leave it to the professionals,” Dyl said. There’s a myriad of reasons as to why. Though it may appear that a legally purchased and set-off firework is out, that’s not always the case. “It’s like when we used to see a lot of cigarettesmoking fires,” the chief said. “The fire starts after
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
STOCKHAM FOREVER MEMORIALIZED By Karen Zautyk kzautyk@theobserver.com
O
N JUNE 22, 1918, USMC GUNNERY SGT. FRED W. Stockham, 37, of Belleville died in France from the agonizing effects of mustard gas-poisoning, suffered during the Battle of Belleau Wood. On June 24, 2018 — to mark the centenary of what can rightly be called his martyrdom — a magnificent memorial honoring him was unveiled at a solemn ceremony in the cemetery of St. Peter’s Church, William Street. Stockham, belatedly awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor in 1939, had sacrificed his life to save an unknown number of fellow Marines — first, by giving his gas mask to a 19-yearold, Barak Mattingly, whose own mask had been shredded by shrapnel; then by returning, unmasked, to the battlefield to rescue other wounded comrades. He continued these heroics until he collapsed from his fatal injuries. The recent ceremony, organized by the Belleville Historical Society, featured patriotic songs and poetry, an invocation by St. Peter’s Pastor the Rev. Ivan Sciberras, a 21-gun salute and formal presentation of the colors by members of the Marine Corps League West Hudson Detachment, and American Legion Post 105, Belleville, and Post 35, Union (in which township Stockham is buried). The keynote speaker was Timothy Daudelin of the USMC Medal of Honor Historical Society, without whom this town might never have known about the local hero. It was Daudelin
All photos by Barbara B. Goldberg
The monument built in honor of Fred W. Stockham sits in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Belleville. It was officially dedicated June 24, just two days after the 100th anniversary of his tragic death in France on June 22, 1918 during World War I.
Continued on the next page
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
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AT ST. PETER’S CEMETERY BELLEVILLE Continued from previous page who, earlier this year, alerted the Belleville Historical Society that Stockham’s name was missing from the Medal of Honor monument on Union Avenue. Now, he has his own tribute, crafted in stone by BHS
etched in black granite by monument-maker and artist Val Hadshinow of North Arlington. It must be seen in person to be fully appreciated — and it’s waiting for you in the little cemetery, just to the right of the church.
BELLEVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY President Michael Perrone and featuring an incredibly beautiful Stockham portrait,
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TOP: The Marine Color Guard stands at attention as a bagpiper plays. BELOW: A youngsters displays a World War I-era gas mask, much like the one Stockham gave away the day he died.
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