For two blocks on Broad Street in Meriden, memorials mark the median. On many of them are names. The one for soldiers and sailors of World War II has the most. It's the roll of honor William Godburn was heading for, to check for misspellings.
"Yeah there's not many of us left, you know? I don't know how many thousands are dying every day. I think there's less than a million World War II veterans left now.... That's my brother, he's dead. And that's me," Godburn said, pointing to the names.
Not every 90-year-old can make the trip across the busy street to the memorials. But Godburn was heading to a meeting with city officials who are planning to fix the misspelled names and put up some new plaques.
On the World War I Memorial, his Uncle Killian Faeth's name is spelled correctly.
"He was fluent in German and when he was in the trenches, he could hear what the Germans were saying," Godburn said.
But his Uncle Leonard fought in the Spanish American War and on that plaque, Faith is spelled like an English word.
"And I'd like to see the 'I' turned to 'E' to make it proper, and it should be," he said. "I want to see every veteran honored in the proper way. And if it means correcting their names, obviously, I'd like to see it done."
