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58 Years Ago Today

Fifty-eight years ago today, my father was killed in Vietnam. Ever since discovering over 400 of his letters over three decades ago, I’ve been conducting archival and field research across two continents and writing about what type of man he was and why he did the things he did. When trying to understand his actions, and my own, I’ve been blessed by the wisdom others have offered me. An example, which appears in my investigative memoir (see https://jamesbwells.com ) is below:

“I think what you are doing is of profound significance. You are really reaching deep into the nature of truth-telling in a world where people don’t want to hear the truth. Today, we’re struggling with what is the real truth, and people like your father, who were profoundly committed to the talking of the truth, are very precious people, and we need to rethink the concept. This wasn’t whistleblowing; this was heroism of an extraordinary kind.”

– Dr. Paul Brown, Professor of Organizational Neuroscience at Monarch Business School Switzerland, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine in the UK, Honorary Chairman of the Vietnam Consulting Group, and author of The Fear-Free Organization.

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By James b. Wells

JAMES B. WELLS is a retired criminology and criminal justice professor in the School of Justice Studies in the College of Justice, Safety, and Military Science at Eastern Kentucky University, and is the recipient of the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences John Howard Award, an award given intermittently, upon significant demand, to recognize an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to the practice of corrections. A former carpenter, soldier, and correctional officer in a super-maximum-security prison and later as a researcher/planner assisting architects in prison design, he has multiple degrees, including an M.S. in Criminal Justice, a Ph.D. in Research, and an MFA in Creative Writing. He’s authored or co-authored over sixty-five books, chapters, articles, and essays, as well as over a hundred and fifty research reports for various local, state, and federal agencies. Recent essays from his research and memoir work appear or are forthcoming in Collateral Journal, About Place Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Military Experience and the Arts, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, Shift, Proud to be: Writing by American Warriors, Trajectory Journal, and From Pen to Page III: More Writings from the Bluegrass Writers Coalition.

His investigative memoir about his father's still CIA-classified death in Vietnam in 1965, titled Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, will be launched on Father's Day weekend, 2025. Links to publications, presentations, trailers, social media, blog, and other information can be found at https://jamesbwells.com. James enjoys spending much of his leisure time with his spouse on their Lexington, Kentucky farm located on the palisades of the Kentucky River, where he is an organic gardener and beekeeper.

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