WORLD WAR II VETERAN'S NAME MISSPELLED ON HOBOKEN WAR MEMORIAL, On this Veterans Day, there is relief for one family in New Jersey who has been fighting to honor their war hero. Army Private John Martocchia's name was misspelled on a war memorial, and his family has pushed for five years to get it fixed.
Each year, when the World War II veterans of Hoboken gather at their waterfront memorial, it's clear loved ones are missed. But for one family, something else is missing.
"John never came home," relative Lisa Palumbo said.
Martocchia was killed in action in August of 1944. His name, etched in granite, is at the Hoboken memorial. But what's missing on the granite in the last letter of his last name. The letter A.
"He dies at 20 years of age, but when we saw his name, we thought, OK, it was a mistake," Palumbo said. "I know it wasn't done intentionally."
Palumbo's mom and Martocchia were first cousins. Her grandfather and uncle were born in Hoboken, served their country and opened a successful tavern on Monroe Street.
"They would all congregate at the tavern when someone would leave for war and someone would return," Palumbo said.
John wouldn't get to celebrate V-E Day, as he was killed in France. The family has been fighting to correct the mistake since the memorial was unveiled in 2008.
"I was disappointed, knowing that it wasn't done intentionally and knowing that we could get it fixed quickly," Palumbo said.
Lisa still has the handwritten letter her mom wrote to then-Hoboken Mayor David Roberts in 2009. He apologized, promising to fix it, but nothing got changed.
"I'm sad that I would have to ask for help to get respect for someone who fought for our country," Palumbo said. "And it's very emotional."
Lisa reached out to 7 On Your Side after taking up the cause this year. The first thing we did was call in our friend, memorial engraver John Burns.
"We'll have to refinish and re-engrave it," he said. "We will get the estimate to the city in the next day or two."
After the Veterans Day ceremony Tuesday, we told Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer about Burns' estimate to remove and re-engrave all 20 names in the panel, which will cost less than $5,000. That was good news to her.
"The next step is we finalize the contract, put it before the council," she said. "They brought it to our attention, we are taking it seriously and we want to get it done."
The council next meets on November 17. If the council allows the expenditure, Burns said he'll only need seven to 10 days to complete the job. We'll let you know what happens.
