By Lyonel Doherty

Times-Chronicle

A local Vietnam war veteran is challenging claims that he is a perpetrator of “stolen valour.”

Jack Proulx, a former member of the Oliver Legion, is facing serious allegations from Stolen Valour Canada that he’s not the veteran he claims to be.

The Guardians of the Green Beret in the U.S. are also challenging his story, refuting most of the veteran’s tale of war.

Proulx, 66, was interviewed by the Times-Chronicle as part of the newspaper’s annual Remembrance Day coverage in 2020. He detailed his exploits as a Special Forces sniper during the Vietnam conflict in the 1970s.

But the Times-Chronicle recently received more than a dozen emails, some from former veterans, who questioned several of Proulx’s facts that he presented, saying the story is just as fictional as a Rambo film. 

The story was featured on Stolen Valour Canada, an independent website consisting of Canadian Forces veterans.

Ant Fisher, representing the website, said they believe Proulx is a US Army veteran, but “it appears he’s also an embellisher.”

Fisher noted there are a few “red flags” related to his story published on Nov. 4 and Nov. 11. For example, Proulx said he returned to Vietnam (Saigon) in 1976, but the fact is the conflict was over by then and US troops left south Vietnam in 1973, Fisher noted.

He also pointed out the Barrett 50-calibre sniper rifle that Proulx said he was using didn’t come into service until 1990 during Operation Desert Shield. Fisher said they were not able to track down Proulx’s records.

“His interview leaves us with many unanswered questions that could be easily sorted out with him providing a copy of his DD-214, a document which every US service member (should have) on the completion of a period of active duty.”

Fisher said Stolen Valour Canada was unable to contact Proulx. 

“We understand that misremembering dates is one thing . . . if he was legit, he’d be a legend in the US Army. Soldiers would know of his exploits and ranges and buildings would be named after him.”

In a follow-up interview, Proulx addressed the allegations. “This . . . this is stupidity is what it is. But, I mean, if they want to come after me, they can come after me with guns blazing.”

The veteran stated he has a lawyer looking into the allegations.

Proulx said the Barrett sniper rifle he was using was actually a prototype that was issued to the US Army before it was purchased in 1982. 

“There was only about half a dozen of them issued. I can’t tell you exact numbers because it was ‘hush, hush.’ They were an experiment is what they were.”

However, retired Master Cpl. Michael Barclay from Innisfail, AB, said his research proves otherwise.

“The rifle wasn’t even thought about until 1982, hence the name M82. There was no prototype before 1982.”

Barclay said the idea for the Barrett rifle came from a professional photographer named Ronnie Barrett in 1982. Yes, there was probably a prototype back then, but Barrett’s first rifle wasn’t completed until 1982, he reiterated.

This information is widely known on the internet and supported by Kenneth Rocheleau, a veteran of two tours in Iraq. 

“A Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle weighs about 30 pounds empty. That is not something that you would carry with you trudging through the jungle. It is used only in specific situations and usually by snipers that are static.”

But Proulx said if the people who are questioning his story are military, as they claim to be, “they should know that nobody is going to admit having any experimental weapon.”

Rocheleau came back with: “Of course, he’ll say it (was) experimental and that no record of it exists. Just claim that it’s classified or something, then they have an excuse for why they have zero proof.”

Proulx acknowledged that the Vietnam war ended in 1975, but he maintains being sent back to Saigon a year later for “mop up” duty. “Just to make sure we got as many of our troops out as we could, looking for POWs (prisoners of war). There were troops in there until 1980.”

“If they would do their bloody research. That’s what I mean, these guys (making allegations) are Canadian; they don’t know what happened in the States. And why are they coming after me when I’m an American? This is what’s upsetting me. If they want to raise hell, get a hold of the head hunters down in the States and tell them to come after me.”

Jack Proulx in front of a guard tank in Frankfurt, Germany.
(Photo contributed)

But Fisher said Proulx’s storyline of recovering POWs is very reminiscent of the Hollywood movie Uncommon Valour starring Gene Hackman.  

Proulx said he doesn’t have his DD-214 military record because it was lost in a house fire in Louisiana. He is still trying (after three years) to get a copy of it from the US Army.

When asked if he embellished or exaggerated any of the facts that he presented in November, Proulx said he did not. He questioned why would he or anyone risk embellishing war facts when doing so would certainly bring heavy scrutinization.

“What valour did I steal? I have never said anything about a medal, and I don’t talk about medal, never. Like I told you in that story, I’m a soldier, I’m not a hero.”

He also questioned if his accusers are certain they are talking about the right person.

“Do they even have the right Jack Proulx? There’s a hundred Jack Proulxs in this country. Are they mixing two stories with one or what? How many Jack Proulxs have military records?”

But Steve Antson, an investigator with the Guardians of the Green Beret, said nothing in Proulx’s story adds up historically.

“He would have been much too young to be a Green Beret. Him claiming to be Special Forces is totally bogus.”

According to the Guardians, starting basic training, then completing Special Forces training would take approximately a year.

The Guardians believe the veteran did not join the US Army in 1971, but rather in 1976 after the Vietnam war was over.

“On April 30, 1975, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Saigon fell to Communist forces.”

Antson said if Proulx was truly a Green Beret soldier, he would have been wearing the hat, instead of a blue beret with unidentifiable patches.

While Antson said his group has not seen Proulx’s military record, the investigator said he is “100 per cent” certain that the veteran was not a Special Forces sniper.

Did he really go back to Vietnam in 1976 to look for POWs?

“One hundred per cent no,” Antson said, pointing to the photo Proulx provided that showed him in a basic training group in 1976, the year he claimed he was sent back to Vietnam to search for missing soldiers.

“If he attempted Special Forces, which he did not, he would still have to complete the basic airborne course, pre-phase, and the Special Forces qualification course before he was assigned to a Special Forces unit,” Antson said.

As far as searching for POWs, he noted there was a former Green Beret by the name of Bo Gritz who conducted a mission in the mid 1980s.

Antson agreed there was no prototype of the Barrett sniper rifle in the 1970s.

“It’s hard to shoot a prototype for a rifle that wasn’t even an idea yet.”

The investigator said his group is more than willing to help Proulx get a copy of his military records (much quicker than he could himself).

“I can tell you with absolute certainty this will not happen as any and all recordings showing him as Special Forces only exist in his mind. You can quote us on that.”

Basic training group photo in 1976.
(Photo contributed)

Antson also took issue with a few other facts that Proulx relayed in the story. 

One: a drill instructor would never take you away from training and invite you to his home for three days. 

Two: the class size for a Special Forces qualification course would be between 70 and 110, not five as Proulx alluded to. 

Three: snipers do not file their fingers to increase sensation on the trigger. “This has been portrayed and sensationalized in Hollywood movies only.”

Four: Proulx states he had a $50,000 bounty on his head. “This is completely false as this is more than the record that (sniper) Carlos Hathcock had on his head.”

Five: “If he served in combat as he said he did, he would have earned the combat infantry badge and he should have been wearing it on his uniform.”

Six: “Has anybody seen all those scars, including the gunshot wounds to his buttocks? They don’t exist . . . I’ll give him $1,000 to prove with an X-ray and certified letter from a VA doctor that a round is lodged close to his spine and it has been in him for 40 years as a result of the Vietnam war,” said Antson.

And seven: a photo of Proulx in front of a guard tank shows him wearing a regular army garrison cap instead of a Green Beret. “He looks like an E-1 Private with no parachutist badge.”

Proulx said Stolen Valour Canada has basically taken away his pride in what he has done.

The veteran said he suspects that someone in the Oliver Legion started the ball rolling on this “witch hunt.”

“I haven’t set foot in the Legion since I was aware of this, and I won’t now. I will not have anything to do with the Legion anymore.”

Proulx said he agreed to do the interview with the Times-Chronicle as a favour to the Legion, to make people aware of a soldier’s sacrifice. 

Sandy Askewe-Power, 2nd vice-president of the Oliver Legion, was limited to what she could say about the matter due to a directive by Zone Command.

“All I can comment on is he (Proulx) is no longer a member of the Royal Canadian Legion of his own accord.”

One source within the Legion said Proulx did a commendable job raising money for veterans during the Remembrance Day poppy and wreath campaign.

Kathy Dyer, office assistant for Olds Legion in Alberta, where Proulx transferred from, said he was a member in good standing.  

“To the best of my knowledge there were no red flags. We did not know him personally.”

Jack Proulx reads a letter from his wife during the war.
(Photo by Lyonel Doherty)