http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317464/Sgt-John-Hartley-Robertson-US-Vietnam-veteran-alive-jungle-44-years-exposed-FAKE.html#ixzz2S0GF3bvg
FRAUD! US Vietnam 'veteran found alive in jungle after 44 years' is exposed as a FAKE
- The man claiming to be a U.S. Vietnam veteran missing for 44-years has been revealed as a fake
- Sgt. Robertson crash landed over Laos in 1968 during a special ops mission
- Official U.S. Government documents show that the Vietnamese man named Dang Tan Ngoc has been trying to impersonate him for years
- Former special forces soldiers have also come forward to pour scorn on his claims to be the former Green Beret
- A new documentary claimed to have found him - aged 76 - still living in Vietnam with a wife and children
- This would have meant the man who claimed to be Sgt. John Hartley Robertson never contacted his American wife and two children who have believed him dead for 44 years
- Despite these new revelations his sister, who is filmed being reunited with him in the documentary, said she knows it is him
By JAMES NYE
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The astonishing claims of a 76-year-old man found living in Vietnam who says he is a U.S. war veteran presumed dead 44-years ago have been exposed as a hoax.
The story of Sgt. John Hartley Robertson as told by a new documentary 'Unclaimed' gripped the world on Tuesday - raising the astounding possibility that an American POW escaped from his Vietnamese captors and began a family in secret with a local woman - while his wife and two children grieved back home.
However, it can be revealed that the man is not Sgt. Robertson, rather he is a conman who has attempted to suck in members of the Vietnam MIA/POW community and that the CIA performed a secret DNA test on him 20-years ago that confirmed his lies.
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Discovery: Special Forces Green Beret Master Sgt. John Hartley Robertson is the subject of a documentary which claims to have found him alive - now revealed as incorrect - 44 years after he supposedly died in Vietnam
Mystery no More: Dang Tan Ngoc (pictured) has been revealed to be an imposter who had repeatedly tried to impersonate a MIA Vietnam veteran
A 2009 Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) memo sent to the MailOnline on Tuesday acknowledges that the man, known as Dang Tan Ngoc, came to the attention of U.S. personnel in Vietnam in 2006.
He was claiming to be Sgt. John Hartley Robertson, who is thought to have died in a special forces op mission over Laos in 1968.
He was interviewed and under questioning admitted that he was not Sgt. Robertson but a Vietnamese citizen.
However, in 2008 he again tried to pose as the MIA veteran and was taken to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh where he was fingerprinted.
They were evaluated by the FBI, which, in a February 2009 report, concluded Ngoc's fingerprints did not match those in Sgt. Robertson's official records.
They believed that these attempts to claim the identity of a MIA solider were to defraud the U.S. Government of money in military back-pay.
These revelations follow swiftly on from the release of 'Unclaimed', a new documentary that questions whether Ngoc - found living in south-central Vietnam, could be Sgt. John Hartley Robertson.
Fake? Robertson, a former U.S. Army Green Beret and member of an elite MACV-SOG unit, was listed as Missing In Action in 1968. But a fellow Vietnam vet who claims he has met a man claiming to be him set off a media storm on Tuesday
Don Bendell (left) has spent years debunking the claims of a Vietnamese man who says he is missing American veteran Sgt. John Hartley Robinson - his friend Major Mark 'Zippo' Smith (right) apparently collected DNA from this man which proved Bendell right
Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Billy Waugh - with his extensive knowledge of special forces and covert operations - Mr. Waugh also refutes the claims of Ncog to be Sgt. Robertson
Out of sight: Dang Tan Ngoc (pictured) claims to be Robertson, but has forgotten how to speak English
In the course of the film, 76-year-old Ngoc, claiming to be Sgt. Robertson, is shown to be unable to remember his birthday, his American children’s names, or how to speak English.
Despite this, he manages to convince a number of people, including Sgt. Robertson's 80-year-old sister, Jean Robertson Holley.
The climax of the film is a tearful meeting between Robertson Holley and Ngoc - during which she unconditionally accepts the man is her brother back from the dead.
MISSING IN ACTION: WHO WAS JOHN HARTLEY ROBERTSON?
- John Hartley Robertson was born in Birmingham, Alabama on October 25, 1936, and went by the name of Johnny. He was the third of five children born to John Cheslea and Mildred Robertson.
- He grew up during World War II, and it was this influence that led him to drop out of high school at 17 so he could get his GED and join the Army, according to the film makers.
- He went on to join the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, and was later chosen to join an elite Special Operations Group known as Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG).
- On May 20, 1968, he was on a mission when his helicopter came under enemy fire and crashed. A full search mission was not possible and he was declared Missing in Action. On April 28, 1976, he was officially declared dead by the military, leaving behind a wife, Wanda Robertson, and two daughters.
According to best selling author and former special forces soldier Don Bendell, the individual who claims to be Sgt. Robertson, is most probably a Vietnamese-French man who has been manipulating vulnerable veterans searching for MIA/POWs since 1991.
Mr. Bendell served in Vietnam assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group from 1968 to 1969 and counts influential friends such as fellow veteran and former member of the Reagan administration, Orson Swindle as friends.
In an email seen by the MailOnline sent to the organizer of a veterans film festival that will show 'Unclaimed', Mr. Bendell says, 'The man seen in the documentary posing as John Hartley Robertson is a guy from France, an impostor, who has been used to scam money from well-meaning veterans and others who would LOVE to see any POW rescued.'
Reports suggest that Ngoc has been attempting to impersonate Sgt. Robertson since 1982.
Senior members of the special forces veterans community have also made it clear to the MailOnline their disgust at the man's claims expressed through the new documentary.
It is thought that the individual has possibly scammed tens of thousands of dollars from well meaning veterans who want to believe him.
Indeed, Mr. Bendell reveals that influential former POWs Major Mark 'Zippo' Smith and Orson Swindle - who was Senator John McCain's cellmate during their incarceration by North Vietnamese forces - are aware of the fraud the man claiming to be Sgt. Robertson is attempting.
Soldier: Robertson is pictured left in 1968 - the year he was declared missing after his helicopter crashed
Orson Swindle seen in June 2008 in his role as Commmissioner of the Federal Trade Commission - Mr. Swindle was a Vietnam POW who shared a cell with one-time presidential candidate Senator John McCain
In fact, 'Zippo', who currently lives in Thailand and and legendary CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Billy Waugh, traveled to meet the man portraying Sgt. Robertson in 1991 to find out the truth for themselves.
Mr. Waugh is a renowned former Special Forces Sergeant Major who was instrumental in the capture of terrorist Carlos the Jackal and tracked Osama bin Laden for a year in the mountains of Tora Bora, in Afghanistan following 9/11.
Mr. Bendell reveals that 'Zippo' and Mr. Waugh came to the conclusion that it was a total scam and crucially - collected DNA.
Such is the anger aimed at the imposter inside the Special Operations Association (SOA) veterans group, Mr. Bendell claims the Vietnamese man is well advised to stop making these claims.
Put simply, members of the SOA are adamant that if the individual in Vietnam was their missing comrade, he would have been welcomed back with open arms.
Retired special forces Captain Robert Noe, the owner and editor of Vietnam veteran website MACVSOG explains the reservations his fraternity have always had over Ngoc.
'One of the things that struck me first was that he had forgotten how to speak English,' said Noe, who served in Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, North during the conflict.
'Robertson was a special forces soldier which would have meant he had specific language capabilities and he was a Sergeant 1st Class in his 30s.
'No one forgets to speak their native language after that long. The claims are bulls**t.'
At work: Cinematographer Allan Leader and filmmaker Michael Jorgensen pictured in Vietnam in 2012
Michael Jorgensen (pictured) is the writer and director of new documentary 'Unclaimed' - which follows the story of a Vietnam veteran as he travels back to the South East Asian Country
Search: Vietnam veteran and humanitarian Tom Faunce, pictured, has become obsessed with proving that the 76-year-old man he has found in Vietnam is indeed Sgt. John Hartley Robertson
Questions: Faunce walks along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
Email exchanges seen by the MailOnline reveal it is the deepest wish of the ex-special forces community and U.S. government that Sgt. Robertson be found.
POWS IN VIETNAM: COULD THERE STILL BE U.S. PRISONERS?
- There has been considerable speculation and investigation by private sources and government bodies into this issue since the United States exited the country in 1973
- Many vocal groups led by family members of those MIA in Vietnam contend that there has been a conspiracy to cover-up the fact there are still prisoners in the South East Asian Country.
- The U.S. government has always denied that any man was left behind.
- There have been several congressional investigations into the issue - culminating in the United States Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in 1991-93
- This was led by Senators John Kerry, Bob Smith and John McCain - who himself was a POW during the conflict.
- They found, 'no compelling evidence that proves that any American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.'
'There are lots of us who would love to find a POW and bring him home, many willing to accept less due diligence just to show as proof the American government left men behind, but we are not willing to accept some obvious fraud who has already been exposed,' Captain Robert Noe to Mr. Bendell in an email to Mr. Bendell.
The documentary makers, led by Emmy award winning filmmaker Michael Jorgensen have made it clear that they are making no judgement about the claims of the man who says he is Sgt. Robertson.
Their film is about the journey of one Vietnam veteran, Tom Faunce, as he seeks to find the truth behind the astounding claims.
The makers of the documentary were approached for comment by the MailOnline - but at the time of publication had not responded.
However, despite the potentially astonishing discovery made during the course of the documentary, Sgt. Robertsons two daughters - refused to take a DNA test to prove his identity.
The wife and daughters of Sgt. John Hartley Robertson, a one-time Green Beret, initially agreed to participate in DNA testing, before changing their minds last year, according to Jorgensen, whose documentary asks whether the man is indeed who he says he is.
'Somebody suggested to me maybe that's (because) the daughters don't want to know if it's him,' said Jorgensen. 'It's kind of like, "That was an ugly war. It was a long time ago. We just want it to go away".
'I don’t know. What would compel you not to want to know if this person is your biological father?'
Jean Robertson Holley, said she will not have a DNA test as she knows it's him
The tearful meeting between Ngoc and Robertson Holley is the climax to the documentary.
The scene was filmed in Edmonton, Canada, because Ngoc could not gain a visa to enter the United States.
According to Michael Jorgensen, 'Jean says...There’s no question. I was certain it was him in the video, but when I held his head in my hands and looked in his eyes, there was no question that was my brother.'
A simple DNA test could confirm the claims of Ngoc once and for all, but she said she does not need to take the test to know the man is her brother.
Indeed, Sgt. Robertson's name is etched along with 60,000 others onto Washington D.C.'s poignant Vietnam memorial, but the documentary questions whether he is actually alive and well.
The now exposed fake, 'Sgt. Robertson' tells Emmy-award winning filmmaker Michael Jorgensen that when his flaming helicopter crashed to the ground during a firefight on a Laos mountaintop, he was captured immediately by North Vietnamese soldiers.
'They locked me up, high in the forest, in a cage,' he claims. 'I was in and out of consciousness from torture and starvation. The North Vietnamese soldier hit me on the head with a stick, shouting, "American!"
'Then he would hit me even harder; I thought I would die. I never said anything, though they beat and tortured me.'
According to his story, he escaped after four years, hid in the woods and was found in a field by a woman who nursed him back to health and then became his wife.
He said he borrowed her late husband’s surname and birth date and was registered as a French-Vietnamese resident named Dan Tan Ngoc.
The couple then had children but no recorded attempt was made to contact his wife or children back home in America.
The main focus of the documentary is the quest of Vietnam veteran Tom Faunce as he seeks to prove that the man he first heard about in 2008 while on a humanitarian mission was indeed a fellow serviceman.
Younger years: Jean and her younger brother are pictured center while growing up in Alabama
Fonce contacted Jorgensen to see if the filmmaker would follow his story to establish that Robertson was still alive - but at first the director was cautious.
'The MIA story was pretty unbelievable, pretty grandiose,' he said to the Globe and Mail. 'I was very skeptical.'
However, what struck Jorgensen more than the idea a Vietnam veteran could have stayed undetected for 44 years was Faunce's own journey as a soldier, alcoholic and victim of child abuse.
Jorgensen said he was inspired by how Faunce would 'go all the way in helping someone he didn't even know.' He added that 'no matter how the story turned out with John, I knew there was just a great "once upon a time" with Tom.'
In Vietnam, Faunce tracked down the man who was locally rumored to be a former American Green Beret who had never returned home.
'Tom went to meet him and was very skeptical, grilled this guy up and down trying to get him to break, to say, "Oh, no, I’m just making it up." And he was adamant he was that guy,' Jorgensen told The Toronto Star.
Growing up: Robertson is pictured with his older sister Jean, other siblings and their parents
Former life: Robertson's parents, JC and Mildred, are pictured left, while Robertson himself is pictured in uniform in 1955, when he would have been 19 years old, two years after dropping out of school
Heroes: American flags stand at the base of a statue of American Soldiers of the Vietnam War in D.C.
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