My father’s military personnel file reveals that he was awarded his first Combat Infantryman Badge, the Asiatic Campaign Medal with a bronze arrowhead, and two Bronze Stars, which indicate three initial assault landings. He also received a Bronze Star with a “V” for valor during the Philippines campaign in World War II.
In the fall of 1962, he earned his second Combat Infantryman Badge while serving as a military advisor. He engaged with the enemy several times in the area of Buôn Mê Thuột and the surrounding Montagnard villages in Đắk Lắk Province, South Vietnam. Additionally, during his last tour in 1965, he participated in multiple firefights as a civilian public safety advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Tragically, he was killed on September 27, 1965, when an Air America plane, which he was reportedly the only passenger on, was reportedly downed by enemy ground fire while approaching a remote airstrip. Despite being a 20-year U.S. Army veteran and losing his life in South Vietnam, his name is not on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Several years ago, I wrote letters to various officials to explain why he deserved a place on the memorial, but it was to no avail, as the criteria required that one must have been a military service member killed in a combat zone to be included on the wall. However, after researching and writing my investigative memoir, “Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew,” which will be released on Father’s Day 2025, I have come to terms with the fact that he is not on the wall. I realized that, as I learned during my research, he was always more of a humanitarian than a warrior.
Happy Veterans Day to Major Jack J. Wells and to all other veterans, both living and deceased.
James B. Wells 