James Wellheiser, has claimed to be a FN veteran, tribal elder and some sort of shaman/healer from SW Ontario. Our brothers north of the boarder have been on his ass for a while now. Our friend over at thisainthell.us posted about him last month. We are not convinced this shit stain has been completely dealt with. To date we do not have an adequate apology or admission that dumb-ass was never in the RVN. He was not shy about acting like a war hero, he should not be shy when admitting publicly that he should spend the remainder of his years sucking bat shit off cave walls.
Wellheiser came to the attention of Stolen Valour-Canada when an on-line image was forwarded to them for comment. SV-C conducted a thorough review of all available records including websites, newspaper articles, photographic images, searchable data bases of medal recipients and extracts from military documents, in Canada and the US was conducted in order to determine the legitimacy of his medals and insignia.
Their research indicates that Wellheiser appears to be wearing medals, awards, military insignia and accouterments without meeting the legal requirements or having the qualifying service.
Wellheiser, a Canadian, has stated he joined the US military in 1964 and fought in Vietnam. Initially, he served with “2nd Air Cav” and after that unit was disbanded, he became a SF soldier with the PRT (Provincial Reconnaissance Team) and alludes to being a Phoenix program operator. He also claims he killed the highest ranking NVA officer during the war, with a .257 sniper rifle.
He routinely wears a Canadian Airborne Regiment Association blazer however, he states that he never served in the Canadian Forces. In fact, Wellheiser swore under oath “that he enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1961, through the militia (Reserve Forces) program. In 1964, he enlisted in the United States of America Army and served eight months before returning to the Canadian militia.” He was a organ repairman during his claimed US Army service period in RVN.
He’s wearing a most unique, and somewhat bizarre, group of Canadian, US & Republic of Vietnam medals and insignia on his Canadian Airborne Regiment Association blazer. Included in his medallic display is the RVN Cross of Gallantry, RVN Wound Medal, US National Defence Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal & Vietnam Campaign Medal, partially hidden is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and there’s a recently awarded Minister Of Veteran’s Affairs Commendation above his wings. Wellheiser is also wearing the RVN Parachutist badge, an obsolete pattern air assault badge (awarded only to members of the 11th Airborne Division, which was deactivated in June 1965) and the Combat Infantry badge. Interestingly, there is a paucity of US Army medals and insignia that would correspond with the Army of RVN awards and insignia! This could be due to a series of administrative errors or, it could indicate that Wellheiser has manufactured and/or embellished his claimed 8 months of service in the US Army.
Additionally, his claims of being adopted by a First Nation Band have been questioned for many years so, it appears he’s a cross cultural poser too.
It’s SV-Cs opinion that Wellheiser could be committing an offence under s419 of the Criminal Code of Canada – “Unlawful use of military uniforms or certificates”. An offence that several individuals have been tried and convicted in Ontario over the past 18 months including Franck Gervais, Donald Lemmond & Eric Janssens.
Wellheiser was confronted about his medallic fakery by a group of legitimate veterans and war fighters. He has since stopped wearing, and surrendered the self awarded and fraudulently worn US/RVN medals and insignia for disposal by an appropriate authority… The police are well aware of his activities and hopefully, they’ll have enough evidence to proceed with charges under the Criminal Code of Canada. How he became the President of the Canadian Airborne Forces Association is a mystery, and he doesn’t appear to have any professional qualifications that would legally allow him to counsel vets and first responders with PTSD.