John Parsons Wheeler III (December 14, 1944 – ), known as Jack Wheeler, was an American businessman and former White House aide. Wheeler was chairman of the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF), is the non-profit organization established on April 27, 1979, by Jan Scruggs, a former Army Infantry in Vietnam. Others veterans joined including, Jack Wheeler, and several other graduates of Wes ...

, senior planner for

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

(1971–1972), official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1978–1986), chief executive and CEO of

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivi ...

, consultant to the Mitre Corporation (2009–death), and a presidential aide to the Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administrations. He also held numerous other positions in the United States military, government, and corporations. He died under mysterious circumstances on December 30, 2010.

Early life

Wheeler was descended from a family of military professionals which included

Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was an American military commander and politician. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and then a general in ...

, who had served as a general both in the Confederate Army, and later with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Wheeler III was born in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of th ...

, where his mother, Janet Conly Wheeler, was staying with her mother while his father was in Europe. Five days after the delivery, the family received a telegram that his father was

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. His father was later found to be alive. Wheeler had one younger brother, Robert Conly Wheeler, and one younger sister, Janet Wheeler Gilani.

Military career

Wheeler was a member of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

class of 1966 which lost 30 of its members in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. After graduation from West Point, he was a fire control platoon leader at a

MIM-14 Nike-Hercules The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, bu ...

base at Franklin Lakes,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from 1966 to 1967. From 1967 to 1969, he was a graduate student at Harvard Business School spending the summer of 1968 as a systems analyst for the Office of Secretary of Defense in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

From 1969 to 1970, he served in a non-combat position at Long Binh in Vietnam. From 1970 to 1971, he served on the General Staff at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

Wheeler's West Point and later years are featured prominently in

Rick Atkinson Lawrence Rush "Rick" Atkinson IV (born November 15, 1952) is an American author, most recently of ''The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777'', the first volume in the Revolution Trilogy. He has won Pulit ...

's book, ''The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966''.

Law career

After leaving the military he was a senior planner for

in 1971 and 1972. From 1972 to 1975 he attended law school at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

becoming a clerk for George E. MacKinnon in 1975–76 and an associate for

Shea & Gardner Shea & Gardner was a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, formed in 1947 and acquired by Boston-based Goodwin Procter in 2004. Founding and clients The firm was founded by two Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration officials, Francis M. Shea and ...

in 1976–1978. From 1978 to 1986, he was assistant general counsel, special counsel to the chairman, and the secretary of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

From 1979 to 1989, Wheeler was chairman of

which built the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those ...

, opening in 1982. Working with

Jan Scruggs Jan Craig Scruggs (born 1950) is a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and later founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Scruggs was the ...

and Robert W. Doubek, he supported the controversial

Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...

design, which was opposed by Ross Perot and

Jim Webb James Henry Webb Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is an American politician and author. He has served as a United States senator from Virginia, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Counsel for the United States ...

, who both tried to oust him as chairman of the memorial. Wheeler worked to address their issues by adding

The Three Soldiers ''The Three Soldiers'' (also known as ''The Three Servicemen'') is a bronze statue by Frederick Hart. Unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 1984, on the National Mall, it is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorating the Vietnam W ...

sculpture by Frederick Hart to the memorial. In 1983,

Carlton Sherwood Carlton Alex Sherwood (December 16, 1946 – June 11, 2014) was an American journalist who produced the anti-John Kerry film '' Stolen Honor''. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the Pulitzer Prize and the Pe ...

ran a four-part series on

WDVM-TV WDVM-TV (channel 25) is an independent television station licensed to Hagerstown, Maryland, United States, serving the Washington, D.C. television market. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WDCW (cha ...

(now WUSA) "Vietnam Memorial: A Broken Promise?" which focused on Wheeler's handling of the Memorial Fund, claiming that most of the $9 million raised for the memorial was improperly accounted for. Sherwood cast aspersions on Wheeler's career, questioning his decision not to go directly to Vietnam out of West Point and noting he had been disciplined shortly after arriving there in 1969 for "misappropriation" of government property. A

General Accounting Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal gover ...

audit spurred by the television report cleared Wheeler. WDVM officials made an on-air apology and donated $50,000 to the memorial. In 1984, Wheeler published a memoir, ''Touched with Fire: The Future of the Vietnam Generation''. In the 1988 television film ''To Heal a Nation'' about the construction of the Vietnam Memorial, Wheeler was played by

Marshall Colt Marshall Colt (born October 26, 1948) is an American management consultant and combat-decorated, former captain in the United States Navy in San Diego, who was an actor in film and television from 1976 to 1995. He co-starred in the films '' Nor ...

, four years his junior and the former co-star with

James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series ''Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...

in the crime drama ''

McClain's Law ''McClain's Law'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC during the 1981–1982 season. New episodes ended on March 20, and rebroadcasts continued until August 24, 1982. Summary The series starred former ''Gunsmoke'' le ...

''.

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

portrayed

;

Glynnis O'Connor Glynnis O'Connor (born November 19, 1956) is an American actress of television, film, radio, and theater. She first gained wide attention in the mid-1970s with leading roles in the television version of ''Our Town'' and in the short-lived series ...

, Becky Scruggs', Jan's wife. On November 11, 1988, Wheeler introduced President Reagan at the Memorial before the latter observed his final Veterans' Day there.

Other service

In 1988–1989, Wheeler worked with President George H. W. Bush to establish the Earth Conservation Corps. From 1997 to 2001, he was president and CEO, Deafness Research Foundation. He was consultant to acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from 2001 to 2005, special assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force from 2005 to 2008. From 2008 to 2009, he was special assistant to the acting assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Logistics and Energy. From 1983 to 1987, he was chairman and CEO of

, and from 1993 until his death, he was the founding CEO of the

Vietnam Children's Fund Vietnam Children's Fund (VCF) is a non-profit organization based in Unionville, Virginia, United States. The group's mission is to help the children of Vietnam.''NGO Centre Vietnam'' Independent of any actual affiliations, it is still an unaffi ...

Family

Wheeler was twice married. He had two children from his first marriage, twins John Parsons Wheeler, IV, and Katherine Marie Wheeler. He also has two stepdaughters from his marriage to Katherine Klyce, Byrd Schas Chaskes and Meriwether Klyce Schas. His younger brother Robert predeceased him.

Death

Wheeler was seen on CCTV on December 28, 2010, exiting an

train, and later, on the afternoon of December 30, 2010, at 10th and Orange streets in Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. On December 31, his body was seen by a landfill worker as it fell onto a trash heap in the Cherry Island Landfill. Police ruled his death a homicide and claimed that "all the stops made Friday (December 31) by the garbage truck before it arrived at the landfill involved large commercial disposal bins in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

(Delaware), several miles from Wheeler's home." Wheeler's neighbor of seven months, Ron Roark, said that he had met Wheeler only once and rarely saw him. Roark claimed that, in the days prior to Wheeler's death, he (Roark) and his family heard, from outside the Wheeler residence, a loud television within the home that was constantly on, though no one appeared to be home. According to ''The Washington Post'', Wheeler was sighted on December 29 at the New Castle County courthouse parking garage, disoriented and wearing only one shoe, as the other was ripped. While he attempted to gain access to the parking garage on foot, Wheeler claimed that he wanted to warm up before paying a parking fee. (Police later determined that his car was actually in a different parking garage at the train station.) Wheeler explained to the parking garage attendant that his briefcase had been stolen and assured her he was not intoxicated. It is also claimed that, on December 29, Wheeler asked a pharmacist in New Castle for a ride to Wilmington and "looked upset." The pharmacist offered to call a cab for Wheeler, at which point Wheeler left the store. On December 30, Wheeler was sighted wandering about various office buildings, including Mitre and DuPont locations, where he refused offers of assistance from several individuals. On January 28, 2011, the Delaware state

medical examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...

's office reported Wheeler's cause of death as assault and "

blunt force trauma Blunt trauma, also known as blunt force trauma or non-penetrating trauma, is physical traumas, and particularly in the elderly who fall. It is contrasted with penetrating trauma which occurs when an object pierces the skin and enters a tissue ...

" without elaboration. Wheeler's remains were interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

with full

military honors A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

on April 29, 2011.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

* Wheeler interview and editorials in the
Death of deafness
series, ''Hearing Health'' magazine, 2000
Unsolved Mysteries Season 2 Episode 1 -Netflix 2020

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, John P. III 1944 births 2010 deaths Activists from Texas American businesspeople Date of death unknown Deaths by beating in the United States Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Harvard Business School alumni Male murder victims People from Laredo, Texas People from New Castle County, Delaware People murdered in Delaware United States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni Unsolved murders in the United States Yale Law School alumni American murder victims Military personnel from Texas