False claims of military service abhorred

Army veteran claims Delavan man’s assertions are bogus

By Vicky Wedig

Editor

Claiming to be a veteran when one is not is disrespectful and insulting to soldiers who have actually served their country.

That is the premise of the Stolen Valor Act and the claim of a Colorado veteran who wants to expose the touts of a Delavan man he says is a fake.

“He’s damaged quite a few lives with his lies,” Jeff Montmayor, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said about Leonard F. Goethals, of the Town of Delavan.

Montmayor was born and raised in Chicago where Goethals worked with and dated Montmayor’s mother.

Montmayor said he suspected from his initial encounter with Goethals that the military service he boasted about was bogus.

The first time Montmayor met Goethals, he said, Goethals bragged about being a prisoner of war for three years after being shot down as a Cobra helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

“Nobody brags about being a POW. Nobody,” said Montmayor, 34, who served 13 years in the U.S. Army including stints in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Montmayor said Goethals claims that when his helicopter crashed, his co-pilot’s head was severed and fell into his lap – a situation no POW would voluntarily discuss.

“Nobody does that,” he said. “There’s only two awards nobody wants – a POW ribbon and a Purple Heart.

“People that are in special operations for one, people that are POWs, it’s heavily offensive to claim that you were one of them if you’re really not. It’s trampling on the memory of veterans that did serve back then and POWs that did.”

Montmayor said Goethals also claims to be a retired Marine captain, a helicopter pilot with the Burnham, Ind., and Indiana and Illinois state police departments and claims to have done undercover narcotics and SWAT work for the Chicago Police Department.

Montmayor began to research Goethals’ claims and found none of them panned out. An online database lists all 583 people who were prisoners of war in Vietnam.

“He’s not on the list,” Montmayor said.

A check of Goethals military records showed Goethals served for 83 days in the U.S. Navy, he said. Southern Lakes Newspapers also obtained Goethals’ records from the National Archives and Records Administration that show Goethals served in the Navy from Dec. 30, 1964, to March 23, 1965, in Chicago and San Diego.

Goethals’ claims and photo are featured on an online blog called This Ain’t Hell operated by retired infantry platoon Sgt. Jonn Lilyea, of Fort Ashby. W.V.

According to the website, Goethals claims to have spent 35 years in the Marine Corps before retiring as a captain. He says he was a Cobra pilot in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the Gulf War, according to the website.

Montmayor said Goethals claims of special positions “tends to set off alarms for people who know.”

“They never claim to be anything normal,” he said about people who make false military claims.

Goethals has U.S. Army 2nd Armored Division and Cobra tattoos, drives around with Special Forces and 1st Cavalry Regiment stickers on his vehicle and flies Marine and POW flags outside his home, according to Montmayor and This Ain’t Hell.

“Supposedly his family was notified that he was KIA but his remains were not recovered so they had a funeral without his body,” according to the website.

Goethals also claims to have been deployed to Afghanistan in late 2001 or early 2002, sometimes he claims as a pilot, sometimes as Special Forces, according to the website.

Two Southern Lakes Newspapers reporters visited Goethals at his DelMar home Aug. 8 and made arrangements to speak with him about his military service via telephone. Goethals did not return multiple phone calls over a two-month period.

Montmayor said Goethals’ behavior violates the original intent of the Stolen Valor Act as it was written in 2005. His use of an old military ID to get store discounts technically violates the existing version of the law, which makes it illegal only to gain monetarily from false military claims.

“He tends to do it more for the attention and getting discounts,” Montmayor said. “I don’t think the FBI’s going to crack down on him getting 20 bucks off something at Lowe’s.”

President Barack Obama signed a new version of the Stolen Valor Act into law in June 2013 that makes it a federal crime for people to pass themselves off as war heroes by wearing medals they didn’t rightfully earn, according to Military.com news.

Montmayor said Goethals wears the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is one of the most prestigious awards one can get in the military – second only to the Medal of Honor, and a POW ribbon. He said those medals are not protected and can be purchased. Only the Medal of Honor is protected, he said.

Leaders of Walworth County veterans organizations including the Marine Corps League, the VFW and the American Legion have not heard of Goethals.

Montmayor said Goethals is in his mid 60s and recently retired. He said Goethals claims he can’t receive Veterans Administration pension or benefits because of a disciplinary matter that occurred when he was enlisted.

Montmayor said he aims to expose Goethals because his claims are disrespectful particularly to soldiers who have died or are missing in action.

“It’s insulting to veterans,” he said. “That’s something you just don’t do. It’s extremely insulting to their memory. We hold those people in high regard.

“I just want people to know that he’s a liar and he’s a fake.”