Posted on 06/02/2015 6:22:02 PM PDT by lowbridge
For its "Living Ship Day", the USS Hornet Museum honored 89-year-old Morgan Hill resident William Goehner as a member of the Underwater Demolition Team, or UDT, in WWII. It's the unit that predated the Navy SEALs.
"My UDT team, we destroyed 80 percent of the German submarine fleet in the Baltic Sea, lost 19 out of 30 men," said Goehner. "I cried."
Goehner told the audience that his suicide missions earned him the Navy Cross, three Silver Stars, and four Purple Hearts.
"The worst one was in the North China Sea," he said. "Got stuck down below in the ship and it burned up and I woke up four hours later on a hospital ship."
He added that he was the youngest lieutenant commander ever to serve in the Navy, "I went through the Navy there and ended up to be a lieutenant commander at 19," he said. "Hollywood heard about it and made a movie about me, Richard Widmark played me."
Goehner claimed he was a consultant on the movie The Frogmen, and that he became so famous that even a renowned general sought him out.
"I met George Patton in Sicily," Goehner said. "He heard about me and wanted to meet me, so I actually talked to George Patton. He impressed the crowd so much, he signed autographs after."
"It's certainly an honor and a privilege to be in the presence of someone who had such a distinguished career," Navy veteran Glenn Powell said at the event.
Another attendee, veteran Navy pilot Mike Arrowsmith, commented, "That's a lot of medals and that's a lot of valor."
The problem is that none of it is true.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc7news.com ...
I never like her....for you...
The piece I just posted confirms what you have said.
Tell us more about the bubble bath....
Hero’s don’t talk much, and I don’t think they should have to.
“...his tale of serving in the European Theater and the Pacific Theater is not credible...”
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I am certainly not defending the stolen valor liar,
but my old man served in both theaters.
My Father-in-law was stationed at Pearl Harbor aboard the Arizona and later was at D-Day. He never mentioned anything about the war.
yep
I’ve gone to (2) theaters in the same day to watch movies....
John Kerry’s mentor?
I assassinated Ho Chi Min on a secret mission to N Vietnam, but of course they replaced him with a look-alike. I got a little drunk one night and accidentally told my girlfriend Ann Margaret about it. Luckily, she kept my secret.
I never EVER talk about the time I rescued the crew of the Glomar Explorer, stuck at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, wearing only a snorkel, a face mask, and a pair of flippers. That wasn’t the hard part - not only had I not learned to swim yet but I wasn’t even born. Which made me the youngest six-star Admiral in the Navy. That’s ADMIRAL Brian Williams to you, buster.
I know a guy that was UDT in Vietnam era. The only thing he ever talked about was training. One goofy thing - they had to cut a hole in some storage tank (to simulate a boat's hull?) at the bottom of the river (Baltimore area?). He said the muck was so soft that the big tank was in the middle of the muck, so he was surrounded by the muck working in zero visibility.
I heard J F’n Kerry is puttng himself in for more, just to keep up. and errr where is that standard form 180?
i grew up with a hump pilot (friends father) never knew about it until his funeral. my dad knew.
An Uncle of mine (now deceased) served in the Pacific, then was transferred at some time in early '45 to Austria. He once described his time in Austria as a "whole lot of doing nothing".
Went in in '42 as an enlisted man, retired in '74 as a full bird.
He really wanted to make General, but was passed over twice: "Up or out and I was out"
Occasionally (usually after a couple of Johnny Walker Reds), he would share a story or two with me and my brother. Ones that always ended: "sure glad you guys didn't have to go" ( referring to Vietnam).
He also served in three wars. Even my Dad said he was surprised about some of what he talked about, as he so rarely did.
"War stories are for the drunk at the end of the bar." Was another thing he would say on occasions
Thanks for that link. A really interesting story. I had not read about them in nearly 60 years.
There was also a section on German frogmen operating in the Rhine. The Germans were far less successful mainly due to the swiftness of the river and also how cold it was.
The Germans were attacking the pontoon bridges across the Rhine but those bridges were protected by anti mine nets which the Germans had to cross out of the water and were invariably seen.
I guess all that time you spent free diving on the Titanic really paid off!
Thanks, those Italians were as successful as any frogmen in WWII and just as brave.
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