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<\/a>The folks at MilitaryPhony<\/a> send us their work on this John Oscar Watts<\/a> fella.\u00a0 Watts wrote a book about his supposed time as a black Navy SEAL. It is called “Shadow S.E.A.L. – The True Story of One of the First Black Navy SEALs<\/a>” which detailed his experience with racism during his time spent in BUD\/S and SEAL Team One in Vietnam.<\/p>\r\n The claim on the front cover says it is a “true story” and “non-fiction” on the back cover. A news story was put out in November 2022 by the Race and Culture division of Channel 6 ABC news \/ Philadelphia. TaRhonda Thomas with WPVI Philadelphia, PA ran a story about the racist claims of John Watts.<\/p>\r\n Since the newscast aired in November 2022, several Navy SEALs started asking questions since they didn’t recognize Watts’ name.<\/p>\r\n [videopress YO9ygYV4]<\/p>\r\n . . . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\nACTIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PHONIES<\/strong> . . . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n . . . . .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n . . . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n We reached out to TaRhonda Thomas<\/a> with WPVI-TV<\/a> Philadelphia, PA.\u00a0 Months have gone by and all we got were crickets. Sloppy, uncorrected, racially charged false reporting is no way to make a living in my humble opinion.<\/p>\r\n I do not know what a “Race and Culture Reporter” is supposed to do. I guess pushing a false narrative from a man that could not have possibly had the racist experiences he claims as a Navy SEAL is acceptable to WPVI-TV Action News.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Here is an example of John Watts’ false racist claims that TaRhonda Thomas and WPVI-TV are promoting with their story:<\/p>\r\n There are many reasons that this is utter nonsense. His “SEAL Drill Instructor” never said anything to him for two reasons. First, there is no such thing as a “SEAL Drill Instructor.” Second, Watts never attended BUD\/S to go on and become a Navy SEAL. The total number of racist experiences he had while becoming a Navy SEAL was, Zero, Nada, Zip, Zilch, not one because it never happened.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n I would not recommend reading that collection of false accusations and racist nonsense published by John Watts. Warning, it does not come with brain bleach to cleanse the mind at the end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n We have about 70 pages that detail John Watts’ military career.\u00a0 He had every reason to be proud of what he actually did do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n All of the sources contained herein are protected under Fair Use: “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright<\/em>”\u00a0<\/p>\r\n I hope John Watts,\u00a0 TaRhonda Thomas, WPVI-TV, learn from our scholarship, research, reporting, comment and criticism on this matter. At the minimum, we hope they correct the false allegations they have reported about some of the finest Americans to have ever walked the planet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Watts needs to get this nonsense off Linkedin:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/a>
In the newscast<\/a>, Watts claims he was a US Navy SEAL in Vietnam. His book “Shadow S.E.A.L. – The True Story of One of the First Black Navy SEALs<\/a>” highlighted Watts’ time as a Navy SEAL and the challenges he faced with racism as one of the first black Navy SEALs. The newscast caption claims that Watts is US Navy (Ret) but we didn’t see where he made the claim of retired. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n
His book does not mention a BUD\/S class, but it does mention his two best friends while in BUD\/S that became his swim buddies. Their names were Manuel Ortega and Frances Gardner. Watts suggests that Ortega and he were drawn together based on mutual persecution due to their ethnicities.
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After contacting the UDT\/SEAL archives and checking the UDT\/SEAL database we found that there is NO record of “John Oscar Watts” or any other variation of his name ever completing BUD\/S Training or being assigned to any SEAL teams. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n John Watts’ military records were ordered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Due to his age and claim of service dates, we filed with the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) which would maintain records from the Vietnam era. \r\n\r\n\r\nFOIA RESULTS<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER<\/strong> (NPRC)\r\n
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<\/strong>Watts was discovered as a senior in the Gratz High School (Philadelphia, PA) yearbook in 1965.<\/a>
Watts was discovered in the USS Oglethorpe (AKA-100) in 1966.
Then, there is a photo of Watts in the USS Okinawa i(LPH-3) n 1967.
Combined with a few files from Watts’ military records, it appears that he was a striker for small boats, and attended the assault boats school as a coxswain.
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<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nDISCUSSION and SUMMARY<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nBUD\/S – SEAL
<\/strong>There is no record of John Watts graduating BUD\/S-SEAL training.
RANK
<\/strong>There were no claims of rank to confirm.
TIME IN SERVICE
<\/strong>Watts claimed that he served from 1965-1969. His military service record is consistent with that claim.
VIETNAM
<\/strong>Watts’ record does support his claim of serving in Vietnam. Both with Vietnam Service and Campaign medals and a Combat Action Ribbon.
RECORDS (REDACTION & FIRE)
<\/strong>Records are not redacted for SEALs. Missions are secret but individuals that have served are not.\u00a0 There was a fire in 1973 at the National Archives, but it was only Army and Air Force records that were affected – not Navy records.
SUMMARY
<\/strong>If John Watts has used any of these claims to gain anything of value, he could be in violation of the Stolen Valor Act.
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