INTRODUCTION

CLAIMING VIETNAM PRISONER OF WAR:

V V A - Claims by members of  Vietnam Veterans of America

==================================
More Reported Claims:
Medal of Honor, Other than Vietnam POWs, Son Tay Raiders, DSC, DFC, Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Navy Cross, SEALS, Rangers, Pilots, Special Forces, Green Berets, Combat, Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, Flying Tigers, DOUBT EVERYTHING, Don't Encourage 

APOLOGIES AND CLARIFICATIONS

Heroes or Villains?

Individuals reported as of  03/2008
CLAIMING VIETNAM POW STATUS  or as noted
#  =  on list over 11 years

All claims highlighted in lavender are eligible for prosecution under the  STOLEN VALOR ACT signed into law Dec 20, 2006.

Note: These individuals are IN ADDITION TO those investigated and named in the book STOLEN VALOR.

Those with a "LINK" have records, news articles, pictures or tales posted
Comments in GREEN are from information contained in military records (or lack of military records) obtained through FOIA when requested THROUGH the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

W

Name                                      Location Date Reported

ALL Claim POW or MIA and then some

Actual Records Indicate/Notes
Wade, Jeffrey Thomas . 1999 Claims POW .
Wade, Lawton Ford San Bernadino, CA 1999 charged with attempted murder of step-daughter -- PTSD, POW defense .
Wadkins, Robert Lake Worth, FL 02/02 Claims Diver with Submarine service, SEAL TEAM 2 in Mekong in '65 before being captured and held 17 months. Tells classes he wears hearing aids because VC put sticks in his ears. Teaches security officer training classes!
Member VFW and DAV.
Wagener, William J "Bill" Santa Maria CA 09/2003 Claims POW, suffered minor injuries, but major psychological trauma when captured by VC. Claims served with "865th GG" in II Corps Sept 69. Claims wounded and highly decorated. http://www.smartvoter.org/2000/11/07/ca/sba/vote/wagenerwj1/bio.html
Wagner, Alan Muscatine, IA 06/01 POW late 60's Army .
Wagner, Donald E UT # Claims POW .

Waldron, Charles Andrew

Hamilton, OH 11/01 Claims POW (10 days, 6 wks, 10 wks, take your pick...) member of Flying Tigers, NAVY SEAL, assassin. Claims 4 tours, and Medal of Honor (that he returned).

NOT SEAl, NOT POW, NOT MOH. 
Dob 1951

records indicate Fireman's Apprentice - USS HULL DD945

Waldron, Tim CA # Claims POW .
Wales, Ron/Ronnie/Ronald . 05/2002 MOH, 6 yr POW, SF, combat wounded .
Walker, Charles Chicago area 11/2004 Interviewed,  Thursday, Nov.11, 2004 on NBC affiliate, channel 5 WMAQ Chicago .

"...Among those served was 51-year-old Charles Walker, a pilot in Vietnam who lost a lung after being rescued from a POW camp.

"I graduated, was drafted, I served my country, and I'm living in the streets," Walker said. "Honestly, it breaks my heart because I gave my adolescence, basically, from graduating, I gave that away, and ... I wound up getting put in a POW camp. I've got one lung left because of the military."

The veteran is one of many who will soon be living in a new housing complex under construction by Catholic Charities, Norman reported...."

Receiving services being offered to vets through Catholic Charities
Walker, John Dr. . 1998 Claims POW, wife POW/MIA activist husband of Holly -  exposed by Col Ted guy
Wallace, Jim
aka James L. Wallace
South Dakota

Dallas TX 
12/2003
01/2007
12/2007
05/2008
Claims USMC POW, while he was imprisoned he states that they broke both of his wrists, waited a couple of weeks for them to heal, then broke them again. 
http://ti-dragon.com/about/resume.htm

quote
James Wallace - Executive Vice President/Director of Training and Operations
http://www.crisismanagementcorp.com/index.php?content=staff

See background  http://www.crisismanagementcorp.com/index.php?content=jlwallace

James Wallace is one of the founders and principals of CMC.

Mr. Wallace has an extensive background in the combat martial arts, special weapons handling and combat tactics dealing with surveillance, infiltration and target elimination techniques, as well as in military and civilian security.

Mr. Wallace used his training in southeast Asia while he was assigned to an international police unit. After six years in southeast Asia, Jim returned to the United States and became an instructor for the United States Marine Corps. He was later assigned to the DEA and completed missions in South America. As his final tour of duty, Mr. Wallace instructed personnel with the DEA, U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard in drug law enforcement procedures.

In the civilian world, Mr. Wallace was a nationally registered paramedic and now teaches diverse groups for the American Red Cross. When not teaching for the American Red Cross, he teaches through his own company professional rescue groups in Public Safety Diving, Aquatic Crime Scene Investigation and Elevated Rescue.  .....
end quote

Served in the Coast Guard - 10 yrs, AFTER Vietnam - click for letter

NOT a SEAL
NOT a POW

quote
I went to high school with:  James Wallace, he was ONLY about 9 when the Vietnam War was on, we are the same age!!  I have not seen him since the seventies, but he looks the same.  He left high school because he got a girl pregnant and joined the coast guard.  That is all I know.  He was born in 1958 like me.  He lived with an aunt in Fort Lee, went to Catholic Elementary school in the late 60's, was no where near Vietnam,!!  Went to Fort Lee High School and he is even my 1976 yearbook in a picture, but since he did not graduate, there is no picture of him as a graduate.
end quote

 

2008 - WALLACE FARRIER SERVICE IN SOUTH DAKOTA

http://www.wallacesfarrier.com/

 

Walsh, Mike Chandler, AZ 01/2007 http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=81077

Spiritual Life

SURVIVORS: Janice and Mike Walsh of Chandler say their family has strong faith and has overcome many hardships.
Laura Segall For the Tribune
Chandler family holds fast to the light of Christ
By Lawn Griffiths, Tribune

December 23, 2006

The lighted nativity outside Jan and Mike Walsh’s home in northwest Chandler is the only one on their street this Christmas. "It’s part of our history," said Jan, who sets up the display each year to evince their faith, although what life has meted out to the Walshes would seem to otherwise foster bitterness.

Jan underwent three abdominal surgeries and radiation treatment for cancer three years ago and has arthritis. Mike’s lower back is fused from surgeries from wounds suffered in Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for eight months. He recently had shoulder surgery and is awaiting more on the other shoulder. Their oldest daughter, Crystal, 33, suffered brain damage from a car crash in Tempe in 2001 and is tormented by pain, loss of hearing and concentration, and the end of careers in modeling and music. The family is working with the courts to give them legal relief, but Crystal’s medical recovery is far more daunting. ...

Jan is a rush of stories of a woman who has gone headlong into life — a 46-year registered nurse who still talks of getting advanced degrees at 64, who recites long, inspirational poems that she wrote, who cries when she talks about what Mike endured in Vietnam. She speaks adoringly of her burly husband. "He’s an old redneck from Wyoming and cusses a blue streak, but he has a heart of gold," she said. She raises her voice when she says she is on the policymaking committee of the Brain Injury Association of Arizona and intends to lobby the Legislature for justice for people like her daughter whose life was forever changed by a drunken driver who went to prison. ...

Yet they all draw from the survivor’s well of 58-year-old Mike’s Vietnam experience. As a soldier in an Army engineers unit, he cleared jungle for roads and bridges. In 1968, his group was attacked, and Mike was one of only five of the nearly 100 in the group to survive, she said. "He had the sense to drop the Caterpillar blade that he was driving and fall behind it when the shooting started," she said, crying. "After about an hour of that, he lost his hearing and he just screamed, ‘God, stop the shooting,’ and he did just that. He was just too scared to come out for about another hour." The rain stopped, "and the sun came through on all the dead and dying around him, and he was so scared."

Mike came across a Buddhist shrine and prayed there and saw and heard angels, she said.

A nonbeliever at the time, Mike said he was later baptized in the South China Sea by a chaplain after an Army buddy told him he wouldn’t get to heaven without it. "The old chaplain was out there doing it when this wave came along and knocked us all around," he said with a laugh. ...

Mike’s childhood and Vietnam experience brought challenges early in the marriage. "He’d wake up terrorized and kicked me out of bed," she said, but gradually Mike’s nightmares went away.

Jan says her family knows trouble. But she reads her Bible, prays and draws insight through her poetry. Jesus also came from humble and troubled beginnings, she noted, "so why not emulate him every chance we get?"

Contact Lawn Griffiths by email, or phone (480) 898-6522

MOS 62E20. Crawler Tractor Operator. Discharged an E5
NOT a POW.
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS: 
National Defense
SPS M-14
EXP M-16
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
4 Overseas bars
 
NO awards of Valor.
NO notes on his being a "patient".
NO CIB
NO Purple Heart
 
While in Vietnam he was with the HHC 35th, 20th and 84th Engr Bn
and the 538th Engr Co

He was transferred to the reserves after Nam.

 

The text of the clarification appearing on page A2 on Jan. 6 in the East Valley Tribune and Scottsdale Tribune:

  Clarification – In the Dec. 23 Tribune, a Page F1 article in the Spiritual Life section should not have identified Mike Walsh of Chandler as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for eight months. “His name does not appear on the official U.S. government database of POWS from Vietnam ,” said Larry Greer, personnel affairs officer for the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office at the Pentagon.

 

 

Walter, Charles Henry . 1999 Claims POW .
Walters, Allen D.  Lexington, OH again
11/2002
07/2003
Green Beret, POW escapee, Silver Star, secret ops. Claims Pentagon won't let him publish his book.

At this URL http://alspeaks.net/experience.asp he writes:

"12+ Years of service U.S. Army Special Forces. Leadership School, Instructor Technique and Presentation."

 

At this URL http://alspeaks.net/about.asp he says this:

"My first speaking experiences came as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, where I provided leadership training to over 250 individuals at a time."

Prelim investigation shows: Allen D. Walters AR E07 12B40.  The 12B= MOS code for Combat Engineer. 

Records show E7.   NO SILVER STAR. MOS include Combat Eng; Dozer Operator; Plt Sgt; Drill Sgt. ALL assignments include an Engineer unit. Served at Fort Leonard Wood, in Germany and in Nam. Military education included Combat Eng school and Drill Sgt School. Disabled/Retired.

Walters, Frank Believed to be Ohio 08/2002
01/2003
Claims POWmid-60's. Has "papers"...tells how bad it was to be captured but doesn't like to talk about it much.... VFW member. .
Walters, Gary Lee Phoenix, AZ 1998 Special Forces, 4 years captive NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH the honorable service of
Navy Veteran Gary Walters, Hamburg, NY - USS Valdez
Wanke, Fred Cudahy, WI 04/02 Claimed Korea POW then Vietnam POW. USMC, rescued by SEALs. Lives on Packard Ave.
Warner, Samuel . . Claims POW .
Warren, Richard Wayne
(used Jr - uses  Sr now)
Hattiesburg, MS

2005 - Union Church MS

#
1997
1999
2003
2005
Claims 25 yrs service - (actually claims 25 yrs, 9 months, 21 days). Claims Special Forces, 2 tours, captured on 2nd.
POW 70-73,  (or SIX yrs - depending on WHO he told the tale to). 
100% disability. Now has "minister's" license and preached the Word based on faith found in his captivity. Claims 3 PH, MOH, Special  Forces. Married at least 5 times. Claims MSgt.

=================

A  middle aged man named Richard  Wayne Warren, Jr.,  who is properly listed .... on the phony list since no evidence connecting him with any POW status whatsoever is recorded anywhere, still maintains that he was a member of a 3 man recon patrol into the Plan of Jars, Laos and the only survivor; taken prisoner on Jan 10, 1970 and held in Son Tay, some place called Ba Loi Dam, and Briarpatch; then released in April 1973.

He also seems to claim that he retired from the US Army on 27 Dec 1987 with 25 years of service (no rank; units known) and is more recently known as a minister of one or more small churches in South Mississippi.  He is also not just a Benin "teller of war stories" since he has recently lobbied himself
into chairmanship of the Hattiesburg Veterans' Committee and has a Lamar
County, Mississippi tax-exempt POW tag on his auto which seems to be without proper certification by the State Veterans' Board.

This guy knows he has been exposed and has been confronted yet still
maintains his story and aggrandizements.

=======

If this is the same guy,  - I thought he was from Oklahoma - one of his deacons came to the museum about him. I checked all our sources, including the TDY lists for the White Star rotations from 1959 to 1962)  that listed 98% of all SF guys that had been in Viet Nam/Laos/Thailand. He wasn't on any of the lists. The deacon that came to the museum  said that this guy organized a day for the Laotians, the Meos to be exact.  This tipped me off, because you do not call Hmongs Meos.  Using the term Meo as a honored title is totally bogus as it is like us calling a black the N word.  Anyway, I said that to the deacon and he said this guy insisted that was their name.  At this ceremony, I guess the deacons contacted the local SF Association chapter to surprise the pastor by bringing in his buddies.  The preacher/fake POW, as you can well imagine, went bezerk and no one could figure out why.  One of his stories is he was in Laos on a recon team and he was the only Anglo there.  They were caught in an ambush and he was badly wounded in the stomach/intestine area and his Hmong had to carry him all the way over to Viet Nam, as opposed to his base camp.  This guys didn't
have a way to bandage himself up, so they just held all his entrails in while he was being carried.  They Hmong walked a day /I forgot  exactly how long he said - day and a half (a long time not to have lost alot of blood or having
infection, etc. set in).  I forgot the rest because he was ludicrous.  Anyway,
since the blow up at the ceremony, the deacons, especially this one who was also this preacher's best friend, started getting suspicious.  I felt so bad for the deacon that came to see me, he did everything except start crying.  I really tried to find that this guy was at least a SF guy just out help them find face. No way.  The preacher has been there around 20 some years and runs a college type school.  His entire career has been built on the "I am a Green Beret, POW, hero who found Jesus while being brought out of Laos"  type thing.  His congregation bought it hook. line and sinker, building up the church from nothing to  church/school complex  Now that the deacons in the congregation know they've been conned, they are at a loss what to do about it.  I guess the preacher worked alot with the troubled kids in the area and got them all to go to school, etc, primarily on the story "if I could overcome this", why can't you.

If it is not this guy, then there is another phony just as bad in Oklahoma.

HASN'T LEARNED. KEEPS TELLING HIS TALE TO REAL FORMER POWS.

.... Still gets 100%. Has attended POW PTSD group. No longer has POW license plates. Still claims retired Special Forces MSgt (not!). Claims 3 Purple Hearts (NOT) but he WAS in Nam. Dec 68- Nov 69. Bought some medals at V.A.!

He is an abuser and he now claims as a veteran he cannot be made to pay child support.

His house was purchased through "Veterans Home Purchase board", they are in bankruptcy because he has $200,000 in credit cards.

Had POW license plates in 1999 - have been revoked. Was a member of various veterans/POW organizations and VA PTSD group as a POW. Past President of Hattiesburg POW Chapter of American Ex-POWs. He burned Chapter records and memorabilia after confrontation he was a fraud.

Wore the POW  bracelet of Walter Moon - who was in the same camp he was!

REAL date of birth 1945.

Oft speak in churches to give "testimonials" of his experiences.

Warren's phone #  - 601-786-9536

==============

Service Number 14808xxx
Born Nov 11 1945
Married, 2 dependents
Dates of Service  11/14/62 -- 10/25/77  (Net Note: DECEIVING -- see
later notes)

#11
8A 16 MAR 70 4 yr 13 Jun 74

Rank SSG

AWARDS: NDSM, VCM, Good Conduct (1st) Vietnam Service, Good Conduct(2nd) Overseas Bars (7) Bronze Star

MOS 72F40

5 ft 11 in 172 lbs(Comm Gen Spec) 72B40, no glasses
GED in Japan 1963

Foreign Service
14 May 63 - 29 May 64 Korea
31 Jul 65  -- 22 Feb 68 Nam
6 Dec 68 16 May 70 Nam

MOS/Units
14 Nov 62 - 8 Dec 68 Comm Cne Spec Sgt E5 61 mo Sig C
9 Dec 68 - 72B40 - Co C 43rd Sig Bn USARPAC - VN
31 July 69 - 31Z40 - Co C 43rd Sig Bn USARPAC VN
13 Nov 69 casual - enroute to Co A 459th Sig BN
14 Nov 69 - 31Z40 - HHC 459th  Sig Bn
11 May 70 casual - enroute to CONUS
11 June70 - 00F40 - Drill Sgt - Co B 5th Bn #Bde Ft Leonard Wood MO
15 Sep 70 11B40 Operations Training NCO - Co B 5th Bn #Bde Ft Leonard Wood MO
1 Mar 71 72F40 - Data Com Ter Spec - Co B Hq Comd Ft Leonard Wood

[Crossed out 21 May 71 Dropped from Rolls DESERTION]

3 May 71 - 72F40 Data Com Ter Spec Co B Hq Comd Ft Leonard Wood
11 Aug 71 DROPPED FROM ROLLS - DESERTION
25 Oct 77 DISCHARDED PER ORDERS 205 103 771022 PDAC F8NIN

#42 REMARKS
[crossed out - not rec for fur service]
EER R-31 Mar 71

TIME lost
3 MAY 71 22 JULY 71 81 DAYS awol
[CROSSED OUT 11 AUG 71 dfr]
6 AUG 71 AWOL

Dif between 71 AWOL and 77 discharge was his side trip to Canada.

Watson, Eugene "Gene" T. . 1999
03/2007
Claims POW,   was "in a cage."
Has VA POW ID card.
Records indicate NO captivity - 10 yrs service, E-5, image Interp; Article 15 1975. Did earn 3 PH
Watson, Patrick Omak, WA again, 09/2002 POW, SF, covert, Rhodesia, claimed Native American, now Mongol!
2002 - Marine,  SOG, Army (gunship) helicopter pilot, Air Force Major,  5 1/2 yr POW..... dresses in fatigues, boots and gold leaf while grocery shopping.
Active Duty July 1980 - Feb 1982. Discharged a PFC/E3. Only training: Unit Supply Spec Course. Awards: Army Service, Marksman/Rifle. No foreign service noted.
Watson, Roger Elton Hopkinsville, KY 1984, 1998, still at it 05/2002
02/2003
READ ALL ABOUT HIM STOLEN VALOR PAGES 519-521!!
 

The local newspaper will not print a retraction to the newspaper article they printed about Watson.

EXPOSED - he retired from the Ky Dept of Labor as a Disabled Veterans Outreach Specialist at the end of Jan 2003. He no longer works at Ft Campbell.  STILL TELLS GRANDIOSE TALES - STILL LIVES OUTSIDE FORT CAMPBELL, HOME OF 101ST AIRBORNE!! He is NOT missed at the office.

NO MEDAL OF HONOR, NO DSC, NO BRONZE STAR FOR VALOR, NO SILVER STARS, NO SPECIAL FORCES, NO POW STATUS. E5 - NOT an officer.

Watts, David "Dave" . 1999 Claims POW Stationed TX, NJ, Thailand, OK, NY, FL, OH, IL; no PH, NO MOH, NO captivity noted.
Waybright, Dan . 03/2005 Claims POW and retired FBI agent Sacramento branch. Claims that he was on the Oklahoma POW list. When asked why not on the PMSEA - he didn't know why, he gets a check every month. He also claims Purple Heart.. .
Webb, John Joseph Holmes Avenue, Prospect Park, PA 06/2003  Article: Delaware County Daily Times, Feb 28, 2003

Headline" Persistence patently pays off for former POW and inventor"

"Fortitude helped a borough man survive and escape from being a prisoner of war in Vietnam.....Webb, 54, a disabled American veteran... Army's 199th Light Infantry Brigade as a "tunnel Rat"...Vietnam 1968-1972...member of the covert Experimental Military Unit of EMU with members of the Royal Australian Navy.....got shot down in Cambodia, tortured and held as  a POW in Laos for about 6 months before escaping.... 145 pounds and went down to 78..... Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross.

Records indicate he WAS awarded: National Defense, 3 overseas bars, Good Conduct Medal, CIB, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal w/1OLC, Expert M-14, ACFT Crew badge. MOS was 52B20, 11B20, 67N2F, 67N20. He served with 68th Sig Bn, 298th Sig Plt, 134th Aslt Hcptr, 1st Acft Maint, 135th Aslt Hel.  NO DSC, NO Silver Star, NO POW Medal, NO POW captivity noted,  NO 199th LIB, NO EMU.  E5 at discharge.
Webb, Nicholas R. Florida 08/2004 Claims really listed as MIA.
No records of him exist becuase of the operations he di and the fact he "changed" identities. Claims Marine, 1968 timeframe. Claims "Purple Flag of Valor" unit. 
Prelim investigation found: 
WEBB NICHOLAS R     
 AR E04 11C2O      
Webster, Steve . 1999 Claims POW .
Weeks, Kelly Eugene Chicago
Dallas
1978
2004
Supervisor at Fox and Jacobs Construction out of Dallas, TX stated he was a former Army helo pilot who was captured as a POW in Vietnam. He also stated he had received several medals from the Army. He tells a rather lengthy tale about being a POW and what went on at the POW camp.  He was last thought to be working as a housing inspector for the city of Dallas.  .
Weekes, Wally . 1999 Claims POW .
Weikel, Donald S. MA 11/2002

07/2004

2004 - Here we go again:

Feds probe phony POW's claims of earning medals
By Tom Farmer
Friday, August 6, 2004



http://www.ayerpublicspirit.com
/Stories/0%2C1523%2C110%257E7505%257E%2C00.html
?
SEARCH for WEIKEL

07/16/2004
Groton veterans'
POW claims called untrue
Case brings to light Vietnam POWs' attempts to track "phonies" and post-traumatic stress disorder

By M.E. Jones
mjones@nashobapub.com


"I escaped."
Those words, spoken by a Vietnam veteran to me after Groton¹s Memorial Day parade this year, launched an unanticipated investigative odyssey into a world of "phonies, frauds and POW wannabes" and the retired soldiers who track them via the Internet.
The story also highlights the many after-effects of war, and how not all of
them are physical. The veteran is Donald S. Weikel, after whom a day was named by the Groton Board of Selectmen honoring his service and recognizing his ordeal as a Vietnam POW.......

Former POW recalls the torture he, others endured
Sections: Area News
By M.E. Jones
Shortly after Donald Weikel of Groton arrived in Vietnam as an enlisted Marine Corps machine-gunner in 1965, he was captured in an ambush and held in a Vietnamese village for four months. He escaped, leaving many comrades behind. -- 7/7/2004
Vietnam vet was sure death awaited him during his Marine tour
Sections: Area News
By M.E. Jones
GROTON -- When Donald Weikel joined the Marine Corps in 1965, he was sure of two things: He was headed for combat, and he was destined to die. The young Marine poured out his feelings in a poem penned on the back of a K-ration box shortly after arriving in Vietnam in the fall of 1965. -- 7/2/2004

==================================
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=35699

Boston Herald
07/15/04
By TOM FARMER    A Groton man who claims he escaped from a Vietnamese prison camp and returned to combat where he earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts is an apparent fraud whose case has been referred to the FBI based on a Boston Herald investigation of his fantastic accounts.
    Donald S. Weikel, 56, also allegedly used his fabricated heroics to obtain a POW license plate from the Registry of Motor Vehicles as well as citations from the state Legislature and the town of Groton........

==============================

Teenager: War `hero' betrayed my trust
By Tom Farmer
Local/ Regional
 (
Friday, July 16, 2004)

As the FBI investigates a Groton man who allegedly lied about being a prisoner of war and a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, some of the people Donald S. Weikel duped say they will never be so trusting again. ``It's heartb... [more]

SEE 1st ARTICLE and actual records

 

 

 

1/9 says NOT with unit 24 months. Only 10.
NOT a POW escapee.
No record of Silver Star
NO rescues.

 

EXPOSED

Weiss, David William "Doc" St Paul, MN
1986
1999
Paper: MINNEAPOLIS STAR AND TRIBUNE
Headline: 13 years after the war, Vietnam vets bask in welcome
Date: 19860614 06/14/86
Section: NEWS
Page: 01A
Edition: METRO
"... Dave Weiss wore no uniform, but his cap announced that he was a POW. "You paid for all of us," Cole told him, giving him a hug. "There's no way we can repay you." Strangers a moment before, they put their arms around each other and joined the first Minnesota contingent in the parade.
     Weiss, a registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Hospital, was a Special Forces medic in 1967 when he was captured by the Viet Cong. He spent 28 days locked in a tiger cage before escaping. "I was going to go on a fishing trip this weekend," he said. "But this was too important. It's like when I went to the black wall (the Vietnam War
Memorial in Washington, D.C.), I was overwhelmed - there were so many of us."
     Suddenly, he was interrupted by a big, exuberant kiss - from his wife, Mary, who had dashed from the side of Grand Av. He grinned and she dashed back to her place at the curb.     "Oh, it's going to be a good day for him," she said later. "It will be for all of them."..."

Still claims POW

.
WELTER, JOHN J  Jr. OLEY, PA 05/2008 http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=81741

....John J. Welter Jr., a Vietnam-era Marine veteran from West Lawn, said he is asked that question all the time...Welter served with the Marines from 1966 to 1968, and said he was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for eight days in 1967...

....good job on your letter to Vandermeulen.  I wrote her, too.  Welter
is a wannabe.  I encouraged her to do her own research.  A lot of reporters,
after they have been defrauded, do a follow-up article. 
   Mike
West, Clarence R.
aka "Skip"
Palm Desert, CA 04/2004 Claims POW, Air Force Cross and every Air Force award below that. Claims to have been a PJ rescuing pilots left and right and that's how he was captured and held as POW. Claims he attacked his guard with a knife and escaped. .
West, Harold Grew up Long Island 03/2003 Claims held 1963-1972. Age 58. .
West, Richard A Columbus NE 1999

3 months POW

MORE

POW claims could not be substantiated by Columbus Police Department  NPRC search
Westerberg, Bob . 1999 Claims POW .
Wheeler, Michael Overland Pk, KS 1999 Claims POW .
Whelan, Bill
aka Richard W. Whelan
Ft. Carson CO
1997
1997
07/2002
09/2005
Still at it. Claims POW. Original stories told to REAL ex-pow.

Claims SEVEN Purple Hearts.

Claims his service record would never reflect that he was in combat was because he was on a covert operation in Cambodia, and that the information was classified.

Has used a Reserve Colonel, Jim Singleton to perpetuate the fraud. Perpetrated a fraud on a  church study group.

His list of decorations is as follows, coming directly from the information received from St. Louis:
Good Conduct Medal; Parachutist Badge; Ranger Tab; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal with 4 Bronze Service Stars; Purple Heart; Silver Star; Combat Infantryman Badge; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm; Air Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters; Presidential Unit Citation; Valorous Unit Award; 3 Overseas Service Bars; Soldier's Medal; Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Badge with Bronze Star; Humanitarian Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Expert Qualification Badge (M-14); Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Badge with Palm.

However, as for being a POW, his record does not reflect it. Seems to have been an ADMIN OFFICER, Worked in Food Service, taught leadership school and was an Aide de Camp to MG Gleszer.

"We have now received a great deal of feed back from members of Whelan's regiment - 327th 101st ABN including an officer that rose to three star rank.  No one has any recollection of Whelan being taken POW and or any Black Operations run from the 101st into Cambodia."
...The Only facts or feedback that are impt. to this issue is simply that no one who responded knew of subject's capture and his being consider a POW.  Nor do they recall the incident when he was missing and or considered a POW.  As I told you in a previous message, there would be records of such an event both in the Morning Reports and After Actions Reports.  You have to realize that any POW and particularly those who escaped would be debriefed with great attention and care.  I believe you have been told that there is no government record of any escapees from Cambodia.
 
If he is now telling you he can't recall the time frame and that it may of occurred during the 3rd or 4th tour.  I don't have his records, but I believe you when you report that they show
11 months in country.  That of course does not and cannot add up to four (4) tours.  Did you or can you ask him what unit he was with when the event took place even if he can't recall the timeframe.  I have been told by those who were captured and particularly those who escaped, that they remember in detail all and every thing about the ordeal. 

SJ, USARA

White, Charlie Martinsburg, WV 03/2004 Claims Navy SEAL, POW .
White, David NY . POW 2x, Navy Cross 2x, PH, SS, SEAL dob 10/49
White, Ronnie Joe Quapaw, OK 11/2003 Claims POW Actual Army, Vietnam
White, Tom
aka White, Tommy Silas
aka White Tommie S.
aka White, Tommy S
aka Silas, Tom
aka Silas,Tommy
aka "Commadore Gone Country"
Branson, MO
CA, LA, NY
10/2003
04/2005
Claim former  Vietnam vet and POW  released on 8-23-73

Claims former Commadore, claims penned "Easy" and "Lady (You bring me up)".  Purported to be under contract for fall show. 

04/2005:  Claims "Vietnam Vet" (there in the "late 60's") and has new show in Branson - a tribute to Charlie Pride.

02-10-2003, 09:30 AM
Former commodore now known as Tom Silas

Casting

Former commodore now known as Tom Silas was the youngest member of the world famous group The Commodores, he was the bass player and now resides in Branson, MO were he's out promoting his cross over from motown to country music. With the largest show band in branson and an opportunity to perform his live show at " The Grand Palace" where the stars play were in need of immediate investors to help in the project, we offer the best return on a capitol aventure. If you or some one you may know has an interest please respond by email (virtual7musicinc@msn.com).

Sincerely,
Mrs. Jewel K. White
Virtual7 Music
Senior Vice President/Artist Development

http://celebritybooking.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=13

"... Also, the artist has been married for nearly 20 years and is the spokesperson and sponsor for, 'Cyber Search for Missing Children' but, will travel or consider relocations as he continues to have their support as well...."

NOT A FORMER POW 
UNDER ANY NAME - 
EVEN IF all  aka's are "stage name." 

ACTUAL  RECORDS
 and actual claims


From: "George xxxxx " 
Subject: Re: The Commodores
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 

He is not a writer on either of the songs mentioned - at least not the versions recorded by the Commodores. I can't say for certain if he has ever played with the group but if he did it was as a support band member and not as a member of the group.

==============================

... I have been unable to find him listed as a member of the Commodores (they say he was under-age at the time) and Lionel Richie is credited with writing these songs.
The man uses the name Tom Silas or Tom Silas White. If you can confirm he was a member of the Commodores it would be a great help to me.....

From: xxxxxx@lionelrichie.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 6:54 PM
Subject: Re: Information Request
 
Thank you very much for contacting us regarding this matter. Off hand, the name Tom Silas / Tom Silas White does not sound familiar, however we are asking others about him. We have forwarded your Email to our attorney for further investigation...... .
Best,

=====================

Cyber Search for Missing Children DENIES statements made about "spokesperson and sponsor" stating the only contact was a solicitation to use a piece of music, and cancellation of a concert due to "heart problems..." NO money, donations, support have ever been received. He is NOT a spokesperson.

Whitlock, Max "Terry" Canton, OH 1999
2000
4x POW-6x MOH *** SEE VVA 
Whitman, William N. PA 04/01
Deceased
Claimed Korea, Nam POW, Blue Angels, Carrier Pilot, 22 yrs  19 years, no pilot, no POW, no Korea
Whittredge, Jerry  alan 1998

2008

07/2008

 

TX 

2008 - now in Tampa, Florida

 

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Impostor Falsely Gains High Nasa Clearance

AP

HOUSTON - A pilot accused of parlaying phony credentials into access to high-security areas at NASA has been arrested, charged with impersonating a federal officer.

Jerry Whittredge, 48, is charged with falsely claiming he was an astronaut, a CIA employee and a Medal of Honor winner.

In a court affidavit, NASA investigators say he used fraudulent credentials to gain access to a Navy flight simulator, sit at the console of Mission Control at the Marshall Space Flight Center and receive non-public technical material about the space shuttle.

Whittredge allegedly used his home computer to make false claims and get a tour of the Marshall Space Center last November. In March, he allegedly used made-up credentials to receive data on the shuttle's thrust-propulsion system.

In May, he allegedly claimed astronaut and CIA status and was allowed to train on a T-45 aircraft flight simulator after meeting with the base commander and senior pilots at Naval Air Station Kingsville in Texas.

Whittredge was arrested Sunday, after again using his false credentials in e-mail exchanges seeking clearance to fly a T-45 aircraft.

============================

June 3, 1998

 San Antonio Express-News
 Man with fake credentials gains NASA clearance

 Mark Babineck

 HOUSTON - A pilot accused of parlaying phony NASA, CIA and war credentials into access to some of the space agency's highest security areas was in custody Tuesday, charged with impersonating a federal officer.

 Jerry Whittredge, 48, is charged with repeatedly claiming he was an astronaut, a CIA regent with a lifetime appointment and a Medal of Honor winner.

Investigators say he used those fraudulent credentials to gain access to a Navy flight simulator, sit at the console of Mission Control at the Marshall Space Flight Center and receive non-public technical material about the space shuttle. Mission Control is "NASA's most secure area," according to a sworn affidavit filed Monday by Joseph Gutheinz, the NASA Office of Inspector General agent who investigated Whittredge's alleged antics. Gutheinz wrote that NASA and military
records show that Whittredge "is not and never has been" an astronaut, nor is he a Medal of Honor...

================

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:1-Y2DOcuL7EJ:www.lubbockonli
ne.com/stories/060398/LD0678.001.shtml+jerry+a+whittredge&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=us

Wednesday, June 3, 1998

Last modified at 1:35 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 1998

Man nabbed for impersonating astronaut

HOUSTON (AP) - A pilot accused of parlaying phony NASA, CIA and war credentials into access to some of the space agency's highest security areas was in custody Tuesday, charged with impersonating a federal officer.

Jerry A. Whittredge, 48, is charged with repeatedly claiming he was an astronaut, a CIA regent with a lifetime appointment and a Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

Investigators say he used those fraudulent credentials to gain access to a Navy flight simulator, sit at the console of Mission Control at the Marshall Space Flight Center and receive non-public technical material about the space shuttle.

Mission Control is "NASA's most secure area," according to a sworn affidavit filed Monday by Joseph R. Gutheinz, the NASA Office of Inspector General agent who investigated Whittredge's alleged antics.

Gutheinz wrote that NASA and military records show that Whittredge "is not and never has been" an astronaut, nor is he a Medal of Honor winner. The CIA also claims no knowledge of Whittredge.

Via computer from his Galveston County home, Whittredge last November made his false claims to Marshall Space Center operations officer Nathaniel A. Boclair, Gutheinz said. Whittredge was granted a tour on Nov. 21-21, 1997, including the console incident.

Then on March 16, 1998, Whittredge is accused of using made-up credentials to receive data on the space shuttle's thrust propulsion system, Gutheinz said. He repeated his astronaut claim May 5 on a Federal Aviation Administration medical form.

Six days later, Whittredge allegedly once again claimed astronaut and CIA status and was allowed to train on a T-45 aircraft flight simulator after meeting with the base commander and senior pilots at Naval Air Station Kingsville in South Texas.

NASA had no comment on the alleged security breach, spokesman Steve Nesbitt said. The Associated Press was unable to reach base personnel at NAS Kingsville.

Whittredge was arrested Sunday, after again using his false credentials in e-mail exchanges with Harry C. White, Naval Air Station Pensacola, court documents said. Whittredge sought clearance to fly a T-45 aircraft.

Whittredge has a permanent address in Florida but has been living in a recreational vehicle in League City and Galveston, Texas, according to Gutheinz.

He is being held without bail in Houston, said Karen Guerriero, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office. U.S. Magistrate Calvin Botley set a bond hearing for Friday.

Whittredge faces up to seven years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted, Guerriero said.

==========================================

Man Poses as Astronaut, Steals NASA Secrets

HOUSTON (Reuters) [6.04.1998] - A licensed airline pilot posing as an astronaut bluffed his way into a top-security NASA facility and got secret information on the space shuttle during an eight-month deception, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jerry Alan Whittredge, 48, faces up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine for misrepresenting himself as a federal employee, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern Texas said.

Whittredge contacted NASA's Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in November, claiming he had been chosen for a space shuttle mission and requesting a tour of the facility.

According to an affidavit by NASA special agent Joseph Gutheinz, Whittredge told NASA officials that he was a CIA agent and held the Medal of Honor.

On the basis of his false credentials he was granted a tour on Nov. 21 and 22.

"Mr. Whittredge was permitted to sit at the console of NASA Mission Control (NASA's most secure area) at Marshall Space Flight Center during a shuttle mission," the affidavit said.

In March Whittredge tricked NASA into giving him confidential information about the shuttle's propulsion system and in May he hoodwinked officials at Kingsville Naval Air Station in Texas into giving him training on a T-45 flight simulator.

Gutheinz said Whittredge had most recently been living in Texas but did not appear to be employed there and that he also had a permanent address in Florida.

Whittredge made an initial appearance in court on Tuesday and is due to attend a bond hearing on Friday.

=======================
1999
www.nasa.con

Jerry Alan Whittredge of Galveston was charged with impersonating a federal employee and lying to federal agents after he used bogus credentials to dupe officials at NASA’s Huntsville, Alabama, space center into thinking that he was an astronaut. They allowed Whittredge to sit at a Mission Control console during a shuttle mission and even trained him on a flight simulator before his odd behavior led to a more thorough investigation of his background and the discovery that he had set up his fake biography, describing himself as a former CIA agent turned astronaut, on a Web page.

==============================================

*** Bogus spaceman who duped NASA to appear in court

A 48-year-old man who posed as an astronaut and bluffed his way into a top-security NASA facility will appear in court Friday for the second time this week. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern Texas said Jerry Alan Whittredge would appear before Judge Calvin Botley so that preliminary evidence against him could be heard. Whittredge made
an initial court appearance Tuesday at which federal prosecutors said they planned to pursue charges of impersonating a federal employee and making false statements. The offenses carry maximum penalties of
five and three years in prison respectively plus a $250,000 fine in both cases. Whittredge contacted NASA's Marshall Space Center in November claiming he had been chosen for a space shutt
le mission and
requesting a tour of the facility. 

-------------------------------------------------

Houston- Reuters

A Texas man who posed as an astronaut and bluffed his way into a top-security NASA facility appeared to claim President Bill Clinton as his attorney. In bizarre proceedings before a federal magistrate, Jerry Whittredge, 48, identified his defence counsel as "Mr. Clinton" and again as "William Clinton" when asked for his full name. The court also heard Whittredge had persistently contacted female astronauts and had been asked to stop pestering them. U.S. Magistrate Calvin Botley took Whittredge's remarks about his attorney at face value, noting that Mr. Clinton was not in court and ordering a recess so that the lawyer could be contacted. Reconvening the session after a 30-minute break, Botley said no local lawyer by the name of William Clinton could be traced. He rescheduled the preliminary hearing for on Tuesday, appointing a public defender to represent Whittredge if "Mr. Clinton" had not surfaced by then. Tall and lean, with a light tan and a gently receding hairline, Whittredge wore a green T-shirt and beige Bermuda shorts with white socks and sports shoes. He appeared intelligent and physically fit -- not unlike the astronaut, secret agent and ace pilot he claims to be. His tall stories of being an astronaut in training for a shuttle mission were credible enough to dupe NASA into letting him into their Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama. NASA investigator Joseph Gutheinz indicated on Friday that the law might have finally caught up with Whittredge because he had been pestering female astronauts. Gutheinz told the court that Whittredge had persistently contacted several female astronauts who had not reciprocated his approaches and that NASA had asked him to stop pestering them.

=====================

http://www.jamesoberg.com/98jun08-abc-bogus_astronaut.pdf

=======================

http://lmtonline.com/news/archive/061998/pagea6.pdf

========================

2008 - claiming to be ex-CIA and having been a POW from the Vietnam War serving time in a cell next to John McCain.  He served in a Federal Mental Institution for evaluation. Apparently, he plea bargained & walked away with time served.  

NEVER IN THE MILITARY

Has police record in San Bernadino County.

 

Extraordinary conman. DO NOT BELIEVE THE FAIRY TALES.

 

STILL AT IT - 07/2008 -     12   Y E A R S    OF BOGUS CLAIMS

 

Wiant, James E FL 05/2007
Claims went in as enlisted and retired as a lieutenant colonel, helicopter pilot.  Spent 5 years in Vietnam.  Claims eighteen  months as a POW.  Captured in 1968. Escaped.  They had him at  the bottom of deep red clay pit full of water.  It was right up to his chin.  Claims he reached up and pulled the guard down into the water, climbed out and ran into the jungle.  Finally came into a clearing.  A  voice shouted stop and he claims he stopped. Then he was asked questions about who  was president and he said he didn't know cause he had been a prisoner.  They  asked him where he was from and he said Winter Park, Florida.  One of the army  guys shouted back that he was from Sanford, Florida.
Served USMC 1960-1979. Discharged an E6.
MOS 1345 Engineer Equipment Operator
Wiggins, Herman Phillip

aka Wiggins, GYSGT Herman P Jr

Corona, CA

Henderson NV

12/2003
03/2004
04/2005
Claims captured May 1969. The only American with 200 ARVN, marched 3 days before Cobra gunships shot up the column, he was the only one left unharmed. States he escaped and evaded for 11 more days and was found by an Army patrol. Claims captured in I Corps with 1stBn, 3rd Rgt, 1st ARVN Div, remained in NAM after till Nov 69. Claims MACV

Also claims police officer in San Diego (except he was in prison during THAT time).

==============

Claims Army Airborne School, Amphib Recon School, Basic SCUBA, Navy 2nd Class Diver School, BUDS/Navy SEAL Training, Army Panger and Army Jungle Warfare School.

Claims: ... while serving as the recon Tack Advisor with the 1st BN, 3rd Reg, 1st INF DIV, Army of the Republic of S Vietnam, GYSgt Wiggins was captured by an NVA patrol, held as a POW for 3 days, escaped, survived and gathered vital intelligence information for 11 days and was repatriated...... 

=======================

Claims he was on several secret missions that all so secret the records were destroyed, "... I was in the Navy brig at Portsmouth for murder when this Marine Col. Steely eyed , built like a rock never smiled got all of us serving life sentences and offered us an opportunity to run special ops into North Vietnam , Laos, Cambodia etc etc etc. if we were killed NO one ever heard of us, we just disappeared from the earth, if we made it we would be pardoned "......

Served with MCPERSNAVY ADV group, 
Da Nang Force Recon USMC. Enlisted March 1960.

Wigutow, Martin (NMI)
aka Wigathow, Marty
aka Martin D. Wigutow
aka Martim M. Wigutow
Slymar, CA 2000
07/2002
09/2006
Nam POW 3.5 yrs, covert ops, served at 16, Silver Star in Korea, officer in Nam.
Claims records burned.
St. Louis could locate no military records. (twice requested)
Wilbur, John NY 05/2006
05/2008
 http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16633002&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=17708&rfi=6
  
Captive comrades
SARATOGA SPRINGS - John Wilbur is looking forward to meeting U.S. Sen. John McCain when he visits the Spa City next week.

But chances are good that they won't be talking about old times; the memories of life as a Vietnam prisoner of war aren't happy ones.
Wilbur joined the service in 1964 and went to Southeast Asia with a Navy SEAL team as an underwater demolition expert.
"When I was in high school, my parents gave me a chemistry set," he said, laughing. "I loved to blow things up. My mother, I can hear her now yelling down the cellar steps at me, 'Bring that out in the garage!'Ÿ"

In Wilbur's line of work, danger was never very far away, resulting in a multitude of wounds from shrapnel and booby traps. On one occasion, he went back to help a fallen comrade and was captured by the Viet Cong.
"You didn't leave anybody," he said.
His military heritage goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War, where his great-great-great grandfather, Job, fought for America's independence. Wilbur's father, Robert G. Wilbur, was a Marine in World War I.
Inside his second-story Broadway apartment, photos of military aircraft adorn a bedroom wall, and a loft ladder is filled with models of old clipper ships. He also has a collection of antique biplanes for his grandchildren to play with, but the one thing missing is any semblance of self-importance.
"I have medals, but I put them all away," he said. "I just thank the good Lord that I'm still here."
Wilbur had a brief encounter with McCain during their brutal ordeal as POWs. McCain, a Navy flier, was shot down in October 1967 and was well-known because his father was the admiral who commanded the war in the Pacific.
"He looked you straight in the eyes, as I remember it," Wilbur said. "He had charisma. When you met him, you knew he was special."
Over Wilbur's desk is a famous painting of an elderly man blessing the bread he's about to eat.
"I like that old guy," Wilbur said. "I pray on a prayer line for about 150 people a day. When you think about somebody else, I think it's better for you. 
It's not 'boo-hoo, poor me.'Ÿ"
In Vietnam, he prayed a lot, too.
"We were in real bad circumstances," he said. "They used to beat our feet. You eat bugs, you do anything you can. I was really thin. You could see through me. You could count all my ribs. "When you think you're going to die any day, you just live the next day and thank God you're alive."
In a memoir, "How the POWs Fought Back," McCain told how important it was for POWs to keep their minds occupied.
"You keep your mind going," Wilbur said. "If you don't, you get all messed up. You have to have discipline so you don't fight amongst yourselves, and you have to be strong."
Wilbur said he prays for U.S. soldiers in Iraq because he knows what they're going through. The desert is far different from Southeast Asian jungles, but the physical and emotional shocks of unfamiliar surroundings are the same. 
"Your whole body takes time to change," he said. "It's not easy. I wish there was more support for the people fighting for our country right now."
Wilbur was among the fortunate prisoners that the North Vietnamese released early. McCain was offered freedom, too, but he wouldn't go because he realized it was a propaganda ploy. Releasing him would have made the Viet Cong appear humane, when in fact, they held American prisoners in unbearable conditions.
McCain was an officer and felt that it was wrong to go home when soldiers captured much earlier weren't given the same opportunity. Had he left, the North Vietnamese could have used it against remaining U.S. soldiers, saying he didn't care about their welfare, a devastating psychological tactic.
Instead, McCain suffered through all kinds of