Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

I-TEAM: PHONY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER HONORED AT ALAMEDA'S USS HORNET MUSEUM
abc7news.com ^ | june 1, 2015 | dan noyes

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dirtbag; stolenvalor
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 next last
To: vetvetdoug

I never like her....for you...


21 posted on 06/02/2015 6:58:08 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

The piece I just posted confirms what you have said.


22 posted on 06/02/2015 6:58:14 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (If Hillary was running against Satan, I'd probably abstain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: forgotten man

Tell us more about the bubble bath....

Hero’s don’t talk much, and I don’t think they should have to.


23 posted on 06/02/2015 6:58:16 PM PDT by right way right (Disclaimer: Not a prophet but I have a pretty good record.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Lonny

“...his tale of serving in the European Theater and the Pacific Theater is not credible...”
-
I am certainly not defending the stolen valor liar,
but my old man served in both theaters.


24 posted on 06/02/2015 6:58:55 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (I was conceived in liberty, how about you?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Lonny

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.


25 posted on 06/02/2015 7:01:07 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

yep


26 posted on 06/02/2015 7:02:39 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Repeal The 17th

I’ve gone to (2) theaters in the same day to watch movies....


27 posted on 06/02/2015 7:03:37 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: lowbridge

John Kerry’s mentor?


28 posted on 06/02/2015 7:05:59 PM PDT by Gator113 (~~Cruz, OR LOSE~~ Ted Cruz is the only true Conservative in this race.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yarddog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_%281941%29


29 posted on 06/02/2015 7:06:24 PM PDT by packrat35 (Pelosi is only on loan to the world from Satan. Hopefully he will soon want his baby killer back)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: forgotten man

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.


30 posted on 06/02/2015 7:06:51 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: smokingfrog

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.


31 posted on 06/02/2015 7:11:14 PM PDT by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: muir_redwoods
My uncle was a bombardier in Europe. I didn't know it until his funeral. My dad was on a minesweeper in the Pacific. Heard lots of stories. Usually about the good food, his rides on a PBY, swimming, etc. They never did see any of the enemy! “But we had depth charges - we were always hoping to come across a Jap sub.”

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.

32 posted on 06/02/2015 7:11:41 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

I heard J F’n Kerry is puttng himself in for more, just to keep up. and errr where is that standard form 180?


33 posted on 06/02/2015 7:13:17 PM PDT by Foolsgold (Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: USNBandit

i grew up with a hump pilot (friends father) never knew about it until his funeral. my dad knew.


34 posted on 06/02/2015 7:15:03 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Repeal The 17th
but my old man served in both theaters.

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

35 posted on 06/02/2015 7:15:16 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (If Hillary was running against Satan, I'd probably abstain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: packrat35

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.


36 posted on 06/02/2015 7:17:44 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Billthedrill

I guess all that time you spent free diving on the Titanic really paid off!


37 posted on 06/02/2015 7:17:52 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: yarddog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decima_Flottiglia_MAS#Chronicle_of_operations


38 posted on 06/02/2015 7:26:21 PM PDT by packrat35 (Pelosi is only on loan to the world from Satan. Hopefully he will soon want his baby killer back)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: packrat35

Thanks, those Italians were as successful as any frogmen in WWII and just as brave.


39 posted on 06/02/2015 7:30:27 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Foolsgold

40 posted on 06/02/2015 7:33:23 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson