Veteran’s Grave Sinks In Nutley; Volunteers Pitch In To Raise It Up

NUTLEY, NJ — A group of volunteers in Nutley recently cleaned up the gravesites of several fallen servicemembers to make sure they looked presentable for the Memorial Day holiday.

John McGuire and his daughters have maintained St. Vincent Methodist Cemetery and the Franklin Reformed Churchyard Cemetery for the last eight years. Every year, they clean the tombstones and place U.S. flags on them to honor the deceased veterans for their service.

McGuire – the incoming commander of Nutley VFW Post 493 and president of the Nutley Veterans Council – said they normally try to keep the flags up until July 4th.

“This is the first year we’re going a little more above and beyond. I hope that, by including my daughters, they’ll someday continue the legacy on their own,” McGuire said.

According to Nutley town officials, McGuire has been making efforts in researching the names of those whose graves they repair to ensure that no individual is missed. But it’s not always easy, as the cemetery maps used for verification are outdated.

For example, one morning McGuire and his daughters – Grace (11), Bethany (11) and Emma (5) – discovered a sunken tombstone for Sergeant A. M. Vreeland hidden behind some weeds at the St. Vincent Cemetery.

Mayor John Kelly III, who supported this year’s effort, said the tombstone had sunk nearly to the point where it couldn’t be seen.

“It was found several feet below the ground,” Kelly said, adding that organizers asked the Nutley Fire Department for help – and they decided to use this as an “opportunity” for a training exercise in setting up a pulley system and rigging to pull the tombstone out of the ground … just as if they were pulling a person out from the ground.

Here’s what happened next, town officials said:

“On Saturday, May 18, the fire department, the McGuire family and the mayor set to work on rescuing the sunken tombstone. Various attempts were made to loosen the stone from the ground, but it appeared the operation would require stronger machinery. Progress continued May 22, as Commissioner Mauro Tucci and the Parks and Recreation Department joined the operation. Utilizing the newest equipment to the department’s arsenal, the CAT 420XE Backhoe Loader, the tombstone was finally able to be dug out and raised from the ground. The stone was restored to its original place, ensuring everything was in order just in time for Memorial Day.”

“This is an outstanding project,” Tucci said. “Any time we can offer our help to preserve the memory of our veterans, we are honored to participate.”

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