A monument to a true South County hero will be unveiled Saturday morning in Grover Heights Park.

The monument memorializes Harold Hatley Sr., who gave his life to protect fellow patrons at Denny's Diner in Pismo Beach from a barrage of bullets unleashed by an unstable man in 2006.

A resident of Grover Beach, Hatley visited Grover Heights Park every day. So the city chose to erect a monument there to remind South County residents and visitors of his selfless heroism.

The mayors of Grover Beach and Pismo Beach, Hatley family members and other South County residents will gather at the park at 10 a.m. for the unveiling ceremony, where community members will have a chance to speak about Hatley and the impact of his actions that day.

“Those of us in law enforcement and public safety have an obligation by virtue of our jobs to take action to save lives,” said Pismo Beach Police Chief Joe Cortez, who is among those scheduled to speak Saturday. “But what Mr. Hatley did was extraordinary.

“He had no obligation, no legal duty to take action,” Cortez said. “What he did came from within as a result of who he was, his fortitude. He saw people in distress and he took action to save their lives.”

Hatley's heroism

Advertisement

Hatley may have seemed like a typical American on the surface. He loved talking with his neighbors, walking their dogs and bragging about his children and grandchildren.

But that amiable exterior hid a lifetime filled with danger, excitement and adventure that may explain his willingness to act without any apparent thought for his own safety.

A Korean War veteran who earned two medals overseas, he later worked as a deputy sheriff and as a manager for Union Oil Co.

He rode motorcycles from the 1940s until his death, was a race car driver in the 1950s and was a private pilot who owned a number of aircraft over a span of 40 years.

On March 15, 2006, the 73-year-old Hatley was seated at the counter in Denny's Diner on Five Cities Drive as the restaurant filled up with the lunchtime crowd.

That's when a deranged man walked through the front doors, looking dazed and mumbling to himself. He was armed with two handguns, and without warning, he opened fire.

Employees and patrons, including a wounded Oceano couple, fled in panic from the rear of the restaurant as frantic calls for help poured in to 9-1-1 operators. Soon police officers armed with semiautomatic weapons surrounded the building.

Among those in the diner when the shooting started was Frank Valesquez, 60, of Oceano, who was there with his wife and young granddaughter waiting to meet other family members.

His wife and granddaughter escaped, but Valesquez was mortally wounded in the hail of bullets.

Amid the chaos, Hatley leaped up and tried to wrestle the gun from the man's hands, giving fleeing patrons and employees a chance to survive, according to police who investigated the incident.

“He was unarmed and went after this armed intruder,” Cortez said of Hatley. “(The man) had two more guns. There's no doubt he would have continued shooting and certainly taken more lives if Mr. Hatley had not intervened.”

But in doing so, Hatley gave his life, shot by 60-year-old Lawrence Edward Woods, a transient who had once lived in San Luis Obispo. With no one else left to shoot, Woods turned his gun on himself.

A month after the shooting, a medal of valor in Hatley's name was presented to his family by Pismo Beach Mayor Mary Ann Reiss - the first time in the city's history a medal of valor was given to a private citizen.

The memorial

Future visitors to Grover Heights Park will know of Hatley's heroism through a monument designed by landscape architect David Foote of firma, who donated his services.

It was erected by a group of volunteers from the Five Cities Men's Club, with help from the Grover Beach Public Works Department, using donated money and materials.

The monument consists of three large overlapping slabs of flagstone standing on edge in a base of concrete and rounded river rocks with a planter containing a Maori Queen, a drought-tolerant ornamental plant with pink and purple leaves.

A plaque on the largest, center slab of flagstone will recount Hatley's selfless act.

An angled bench nearby will allow visitors to rest and view the memorial as well as the adjacent playground and park where Hatley spent so many enjoyable hours.

April 18, 2008