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Whistleblower Characteristics

Whistleblowing Fact 897: A partial listing of whistleblower characteristics my father “possessed included being strong-willed, stubbornly committed, and obsessed about a personal belief. He also had a proactive personality, which allowed him to be more willing to go against social conventions. Like many whistleblowers, he possessed high levels of moral judgment and felt more inclined to […]

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Because is in Ireland

My investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, is in Ireland! Thank you, Jordan Wachman! I encourage others to post their pictures of Because. 

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Was a Whistleblower “Through and Through”

Whistleblowing Fact 895: In some of the 400 letters I found 26 years after he died in Vietnam, my father self admits that his actions qualify him as meeting the academic definition of a whistleblower. Two prominent scholars, Near and Miceli, defined in a 1985 journal article what has become the classic and commonly accepted definition […]

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As Long As We Say Their Name, They Will Never Die

“They say a person dies twice — once when they have their physical death and the second time when we stop saying their name.” https://jamesbwells.com/2023/09/25/giving-life/ This Memorial Day weekend, I wish to honor and mention the names of Wells family members who volunteered to defend our country during wartime.  My great-great-grandfather Richard Wells cut down […]

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His Name is Not on the Wall

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 […]

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Vietnam War Memorial Wall

This Memorial Day weekend I find myself thinking again of my father’s death in Vietnam. At one time, I was upset that my father, who was killed very early in the Vietnam War (September 27, 1965), doesn’t have his name on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. If his name were there, it would be on […]