Gilroyan a CNN top 10 hero
Gilroy dog trainer Mary Cortani was surrounded by good company – both human and canine – when she learned of some marvelous news Thursday morning while having breakfast at Station 55 restaurant in downtown Gilroy.
Housing wins as Rivas shuffles Legislature leadership deck
Who’s up and who’s down? When the news broke late Nov. 21 that new Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas picked new committee chairpersons and canned others, the Sacramento political sphere was immediately abuzz with talk of winners and losers.
The winners include Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the Davis...
WWII veteran apologizes for false claims of heroic deeds
MORGAN HILL—A Morgan Hill veteran who was exposed as a fraud by a television news report earlier this week admitted Tuesday he has been lying for more than a decade and apologized for the lies.William C. Goehner, 89, has spent years fooling the Library of Congress, the media and even his own friends and family. He has talked publicly about the four Purple Hearts, three Silver Stars and Navy Cross he received for heroism as a member of a storied Underwater Demolition Team during the Second World War. Morgan Hill Rotary Club issued a presidential citation for valor that he proudly displayed.But it was all a lie. Goehner said at his home June 2 he is sorry for telling the tall tales all these years. That was just a couple days after Goehner’s credibility was called into question by ABC investigative reporter Dan Noyes at a presentation the Morgan Hill man made at the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda.“I’m sorry. I was discharged as a Seaman First (Class),” Goehner said Tuesday. Seaman First Class is several ranks below Lieutenant Commander, which Goehner has claimed many times to have achieved at the age of 19 after just 2.5 years in the Navy.On Tuesday, while admitting he is a fraud, Goehner stopped short of taking full personal blame for the fabrications. He said a friend, whom he declined to name, contacted the Library of Congress on his behalf to set up a video interview for its Veterans History Project in 2004. Goehner said the Library of Congress never did its own fact-checking to verify his story.He said he did not receive any of the previously claimed medals. He did not serve on the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team. The lead character played by Richard Widmark in 1951’s “The Frogmen” was not based on Goehner and he did not serve as a film consultant, he admitted.The former editors of this newspaper— when it was under different management and ownership—reported Goehner’s detailed accounts under the headline “The original Navy SEAL,” on January 11, 2013.Goehner explained his lies by saying, “I guess you get in the habit of it.”Goehner’s son Victor showed his father the DVD with his 2004 video interview for the Library of Congress.“But you’re the one who said you did these things,” Victor said.“Don’t sit here and say you didn’t know about it.”Victor said his father has told the war and war medals stories “as long as I can remember.”When confronted by Noyes May 30 at the USS Hornet Museum with military records that disprove most of his story, Goehner insisted on camera that the stories were true. Victor said Tuesday morning was the first time his father “remotely admitted he’s wrong.”One veteran who vouched for Goehner, and recommended him to the USS Hornet Museum, is Morgan Hill resident and U.S. Air Force veteran Brian Shiroyama. He is “obviously...disappointed” in Goehner, but “pleased” to hear he has finally admitted to his lies.Goehner served in the U.S. Navy in Europe, Africa and the Pacific before and after World War Two, according to his naval separation documents. Goehner and his son showed these records to Gilroy Dispatch editor Jack Foley May 31, when Goehner continued to insist his stories were true.A day later, his son, Victor, 60, said his father has a long history of embellishing and fabricating things about his life.Goehne enlisted in December 1943 and served honorably in the reserves until 1954, his documents state. Theyalso list his training in the navigation and steering of LSTs, navy lingo for Landing Ship, Tank.On June 2, Goehner continued to insist he received UDT training at Little Creek, but his son and a former Navy SEAL says that’s not possible.At the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce, Florida, executive director Richard Kaiser called Goehner’s combat stories “just preposterous.”He said the museum has a database that lists every person ever trained in underwater demolition work and Goehner “is not on it.”Underwater Demolition Teams, or UDTs, never were deployed in Europe during World War II, said Kaiser, a former Navy SEAL and recipient of the Silver Star Medal for Valor in the so-called “Black Hawk Down” action in Somalia, Africa, in 1993.Goehner has also claiimed he was a Los Gatos policeman and went to Santa Clara University law school.Neither the city nore school has a record of him on the payroll or as a student.Goehner and his son said June 2 that Goehner was an “auxiliary” police staff person, “kind of like a volunteer,” said to Victor.“It was wrong of me,” Goehner said of his tall tales. “It was absolutely wrong. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. I’ve got to come out with the truth. It’s my fault, I guess.”
Thanksgiving for the Homeless
As people around the country sit down to their Thanksgiving meal with family and friends at crowded dining room tables, hundreds in Gilroy are eating theirs at local soup kitchens.At St. Joseph’s Family Center, the Salvation Army and Gilroy Compassion Center, individuals and families who are either homeless or cannot afford to make their own Thanksgiving feast at home are being treated to a nourishing meal and companionship for the holiday.“Food is more than just a necessity to life, it’s also relationship building,” said Vicky Martin at St. Joseph’s Family Center, where up to 300 people were expected at their annual free meal. “We want to help heal and bring back good memories.”For some, giving up their own Thanksgiving to serve others is as traditional as roast turkey and pumpkin pie. At St.Joseph’s more than 50 volunteers working in three shifts are helping prepare, serve and cleanup.“We get volunteers that range in age from 13 to 70-plus years,” said Catherine Miramontes, who coordinates the Thanksgiving meal, called the Lord’s Table, with her husband, Guadalupe. “I have a list of repeat volunteers I contact each year to schedule for the meal preparation to the cleanup.”Volunteers start preparing the meal early in the morning—turkey, stuffing, cranberry, yams, a selection of traditional desserts—and after all the food is served, they stay to sit and talk.“We feel that everyone should try to extend those warm feelings and full tummies they enjoy to those who aren’t as fortunate,” said Miramontes, who has been volunteering at St. Joseph’s since 2010. “With our help we hope the folks we serve will one day be able to provide these memorable moments in their own domiciles with some reminders of how to do it because they remember their experiences at The Lord’s Table.”At the Salvation Army on Fifth Street, which serves free turkey meals with all the fixings on Wednesday, church secretary Lorena Alcantar, said it is important for the Gilroy community to be aware of all they do.In addition to the Thanksgiving meal that serves about 100 each year, the Salvation Army distributes clothing vouchers, operates a food pantry and fresh produce program and provides showers for the homeless an hour a day, three times a week.Alcantar said over the 10 years she’s been at the church, she’s gotten to know a lot of people, learn their stories, and shared in their heartbreak.“You get to know their problems and what they are going through.” Alcantar experienced homelessness herself when she was a teenager and had problems at home. One day she was invited to the church, attended a service and ended up staying. She said it was a miracle she survived.Today her children volunteer at the church and each Christmas donate some of their own toys to local children in need.“They like to help out,” said Alcantar, who has six kids ages 5 to 22. “They get to see that others don’t have what they have. It’s good for them to see that so they can appreciate and not take what they have for granted.”In Santa Clara County, with its high wages—if you can get them—and high cost of living, it’s not just the homeless who are being served at local soup kitchens this holiday season.Miramontes said many who rely on St. Joseph’s for food are employed and have homes.“They must choose between food and buying their basic necessities and/or paying rent.”Echoing that sentiment is Martin, who runs St. Joseph’s food pantry program, one of the three largest in the county based on food volume and the number of people served.“When the economy does better it actually creates a larger divide between high and low incomes,” she said.Martin regularly sees seniors and those on fixed incomes, students, low-wage agricultural and retail workers, as well as working families, having to decide between paying rent and getting nutritious food.She estimates they serve 100 families a day when they give out grocery baskets and at least 550 families during their Monday morning fresh produce distribution, part of an initiative to get more fruits and vegetables into impoverished communities.Martin tells of a lady who lost 12 pounds by eating the fresh produce St. Joseph’s distributes. She said there are teachers at Gavilan College who have brought food to school for hungry students.Because of this need among local youth, St. Joseph’s began in 2014 to distribute food at eight schools in Gilroy. It’s more convenient for working families who don’t have time to get to a food pantry and helps alleviate some of the behavioral issues researchers have attributed to poor nutrition resulting from food insecurity.“Hunger doesn’t take a break,” said David Cox, executive director at St. Joseph’s. “The enthusiasm we see from our community during the holidays is wonderful; we are blessed, but we would love it to be contagious and result in a year-round awareness.”
