Social Media Memories of My Uncle Bill

I thought I had told every possible story related to my uncle Bill Newvine, a Vietnam veteran who died in a car accident six months after returning from military service.

High School Photograph from Port Leyden Central School (NY) of William Newvine, known to his friends as Bill or Billy.  Photo- Newvine Personal Collection

Over the years, I have written about what his life was like growing up in my hometown of Port Leyden, New York.  With the help of an organization that connects soldiers from the same unit my uncle served in, I was able to talk to men who knew him in the Army.  

In recent years, Bill’s sister Betty and my dad Ed have provided me with letters from their brother written while he was in Vietnam.

I thought we had covered it all, but thanks to social media, a new wave of Bill Newvine memories have surfaced in recent weeks.

My Facebook post marking the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of Bill Newvine.  Photo: Steve Newvine

On May 5, 2018, I posted Bill’s high school photograph on Facebook and told my followers that the date marked the fiftieth anniversary of his death.  

Naturally, the post got several likes. But some comments from friends and classmates of Bill provided some additional insight into who my uncle was.

One woman knew Bill from Port Leyden Central School where he graduated in 1963.

 “He was a seemingly shy young man but when we got together as a group, he opened up to his fun-loving self.”

Bill Newvine is the only soldier wearing glasses in this photograph from his time in the US Army.  Photo: Alpha Association

This comment reminded me of interviews I did with some of the men who served with Bill in Vietnam.  

They had similar observations about my uncle: quiet at first, but someone who opened up after getting to know you.  

Being just eleven years old when he died, I never experienced that fun-loving side of him. But my Dad confirmed that his brother was shy, but after getting to know someone, he lost that shyness.

Another woman who commented on the post said, “I had the biggest crush on him in high school.”  This reminded me of something I saw posted on the Port Leyden Central School Facebook page from a few years ago. 

That post recalled the class of 1963 Senior Trip to New York City that included a ride on a Ferris Wheel.  The person posting about that trip recalled how scared she was on that ride, but “Bill Newvine rode with me so I wasn’t so scared.”

Bill Newvine’s school picture from his middle school years.  Photo: Newvine Family Collection

A friend and neighbor of our family commented by speaking to Bill’s depth of sincerity.  “Very nice neighbor and friend... Made many memories growing up.”

There was a comment about his service to the country as well as to others who were in the armed forces. “We owe so much to those who served.”

Bill Comeau, the organizer of Alpha Association, a group that was instrumental in my getting to talk to the soldiers who served with my uncle, weighed in with this comment:

“Bill was a very likable soldier in Vietnam and had many friends. It was tragic that he survived the year in Vietnam and lost his life in such an unfortunate way.”  

Bill Comeau knew Bill but did not know him well.  His work with Alpha Association has brought a lot of Vietnam era veterans together in a safe place where they can open up about their experiences, celebrate their successes, and honor those who served.

Bill Newvine didn’t seek the spotlight or even the camera’s lens in this photo from his time in Vietnam.  He’s the soldier wearing glasses. Photo: Alpha Association

It was my hope that posting Bill’s high school yearbook photo and reminding folks about him on the anniversary of his passing will keep his memory alive.  His two brothers and one sister have done a lot to remember him.

The passing of that responsibility has now been made to the next generation including me.  

On this Memorial Day holiday, we’ll do a lot of remembering. I am aware of at least four soldiers who served with Bill in Vietnam and were killed in action.  

I made Bill’s visit to the Vietnam Memorial for him in 2012. I found their names on the wall of the Vietnam Memorial and paid my respects to those men.

Bill Newvine is fourth from the left in the top row of this yearbook photo from his freshman year in high school.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection.

This journey to learn more about Bill has helped me drill down to find my own memories.  Being so young when he passed in 1968, it was hard at first to get past the tragedy and the family grief.  Over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate the moments that have churned up in my memory.

I remember his snowmobile, an Evinrude.  I recall a farewell party his parents had before he went off to basic training.  I remember playing cards with him along with my family sometime shortly after he returned home from Vietnam.  

I remember seeing him every Sunday morning at the nine o’clock Mass at St. Martin’s Church with my grandparents.  The three of them sat in the same pew week after week.

It’s my hope that justice has been done in trying to tell the story about Bill Newvine; not so much by how he died, but by how he lived. His passing permitted me to learn so much about his life.

Whether it was the sharing of Army stories with the soldiers who served with him in Vietnam or the many reflections from friends and neighbors who posted their thoughts on social media, the memory lives on.

There are many friends in my hometown of Port Leyden who still remember him.

We’ve done our best to be sure no one has forgotten Bill.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

He wrote about his uncle in the book Finding Bill, available at Lulu.com

Bishop Myron Cotta- Service Influenced by Family, Friends, and Faith

Merced County Native Myron Cotta became Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton in March 2917.

Bishop Myron Cotta. The Dos Palos native is now Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton.  Photo: Diocese of Stockton

He’s never forgotten the words a nun in his Catholic school said to him growing up.

“Myron, one day you’re going to be a priest.”  

His response to the Sister at that time was a smile and just two words, “Yeah, right.”

While he may have responded to the nun with a quick answer, her comment and the words of others who used gentle encouragement stayed with him.

“When people have the courage to bring it up, that stays with you.”

Dos Palos in Merced County has a population of about five-thousand.  Photo: Steve Newvine

As a boy growing up in Dos Palos, Merced County, Myron Cotta loved his family, enjoyed his friends, and wondered what he would do when he grew up.  He attended Mass every weekend at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

He grew up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of town.  His family included one brother and two sisters.

He speaks fondly of his family upbringing.  “I’m Portuguese, so that comes with an extended family.  Cousins, uncles, and aunts, were always around. That was the way I was brought up.”

Sacred Heart Catholic Church is where Myron Cotta went to weekly Mass growing up in the 1960s and 1970s.  Photo: Steve Newvine

In his teens, he would occasionally entertain ideas of becoming a priest.

After high school, he put those ideas out of his mind as he pursued a degree at West Hills College in Coalinga.  

He also started to move away from the church.  “I sort of drifted away from all this.”

Upon graduation from college, he worked at a grocery store in Dos Palos and found his way back to the church.  

“I believe God allows us to drift in the process of our lives.  But he also permits us to come back.”

Downtown Dos Palos where Myron Cotta hung out as a teen.  It was also where he was influenced by family and friends. Photo: Steve Newvine

Within a few years, he made the decision that would change his life.  

He chose the priesthood.

“At my high school reunion, I had already made my decision to enter the priesthood.  I shared this with some classmates and they said ‘we had a feeling when you were in school that you might go down this path.”

He entered St. John’s Seminary to prepare for the priesthood in 1980.  

Those years in the seminary created strong bonds with his classmates.  His class included seminarians from the Los Angeles area who were taken by the strong bond of friendship among the Central Valley classmates.

“One of the Los Angeles seminarians asked those of us from the Valley whether we knew each other before entering the seminary.  My answer was no, and I think that’s something special about the Valley. It is a special connectivity.”

He was ordained on September 17, 1987.  In Merced County, Father Cotta served as an assistant pastor in parishes in Atwater and Gustine.  In Fresno County, he served at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Laton.

He was called back to Gustine following his assignment in Laton where he served at Our Lady of Miracles Church again, this time as Pastor.

Soon, he was called by the Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, the late John Steinbock, to serve as Vicar General.  As the Bishop’s right-hand man, the now Monsignor Cotta helped run the Diocese that covers the Central Valley from Merced County to Bakersfield.

He served in that post for two six-year terms and might have considered another assignment when events happened that would ultimately change the course of his life.

Bishop Steinbock passed away in 2010.  Monsignor Cotta stayed on as Diocese Administrator in Fresno until a new Bishop was appointed.

In 2012 Bishop Armando Ochoa was installed as the new Bishop for the Fresno Diocese.  He asked Monsignor Cotta to stay on for a while to help during the Bishop’s first year in Fresno.

That assignment would run for another two years until he received a phone call from the Papal Nunzio in Washington, DC (the Papal Nunzio is a diplomatic representative of the Pope).

The Papal Nunzio notified Monsignor that Pope Francis was appointing him to the Auxiliary Bishop post in the Diocese of Sacramento.

A few years later in December 2017, he got another call from the Papal Nunzio.  This time, he was being asked to accept the appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton.

Bishop Myron Cotta was installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton at a ceremony held at   -- Chruch in Modesto. Photo; Diocese of Stockton

He was installed on March 2018 at a service at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Modesto.  The church was filled with family, friends, and his colleagues.

“I had a good idea what to expect when I came to the Stockton Diocese,” he said.  “We’ve had some staff changes due to retirements and deaths, but we’re off to a fresh start.”

Bishop Cotta welcomes the opportunity to lead the Catholic faith communities in the Stockton Diocese that covers Stockton east to the Motherlode region.

He is a product of the Central Valley and feels blessed to be able to serve in the area he loves.

“At my installation, I spoke about family, friends, and faith.  These are important things to me.”

With family, he is grateful to have so many relatives within a short distance from one another in Merced County when growing up.  

With friends, he is satisfied with so many of them encouraging him as he responded to his calling to the priesthood.

With faith, he ties it all together back to that nun from Merced County who first told him:

“Myron, someday you are going to be a priest.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  He has written California Back Roads, Stories from the Land of the Palm and Pine, available at lulu.com

Steve congratulates the ten winners of this book from a recent contest conducted by MercedCountyEvents.com