What seemed two weeks ago to be a remarkable story of heroism and perseverance has now unraveled as numerous aspects of the life of John Dietz have proven unverifiable.
Dietz, a 72-year-old Oak Parker, was profiled on page one of Wednesday Journal on June 27. He was to have been the grand marshal of the village’s Fourth of July parade, an honor rescinded as numerous questions arose about claims made by Dietz concerning his alleged military service in Korea and Vietnam.
In the Journal story Dietz claimed, among other things, that he had received three Purple Hearts, served three tours of duty in Vietnam, lost two brothers and a stepbrother in Vietnam, that his wife and infant daughter died in a fire and that he suffered severe head trauma while in the service. Dietz also said that he was a graduate of University of Michigan, where he played football.
However, after the first questions arose about Dietz’ story in the days after its publication, the newspaper began further inquiries. Among the issues now clarified is that the United States Marine Corps History Division in Quantico, Va., has no record of service for Dietz, his two brothers, stepbrother or father. Nor could the University of Michigan find evidence that Dietz ever attended the school or played football there.
Dan Haley, editor and publisher of Wednesday Journal, said the story came to the paper as most human interest stories do, on a tip from a reader. “We’ve done many, many stories over the years about notable veterans. As was the case with Mr. Dietz, most often those story ideas come, not from the vet, but from friends or acquaintances. It has not been our policy to fact check dates of service or other aspects of such stories. We assume we are getting a straight story, or, at least a very clear memory. That didn’t happen this time. It is embarrassing to us and we apologize to our readers.”
Dietz said he went by the name John Peter Diaz (he changed his last name to match his stepfather’s in 1947) while in the Marines and at the University of Michigan, but went back to the original Dietz name about five years ago.
A research assistant at the University of Michigan library searched the school’s athletics collections, past student yearbooks and proceedings for the library board of regents and could not find any records of John Dietz or Diaz attending the university or playing football.
At the Marine Corps History Division, David Olliff, a human resources assistant, searched for William and Robert Diaz-brothers said by Dietz to have died in Vietnam-but found no death records. No records were found for Howard Diaz, Dietz’s stepbrother who was also claimed to have died in Vietnam.
In addition, no record turned up for Peter Charles Dietz, Dietz’ father, having died in World War II. Oliff said the history division’s records for Vietnam are about 99 percent complete and gave the same percentage of accuracy for World War II records. He said the chances of the service not having two brothers who died in Vietnam on record are very slim.
Oliff also looked up Dietz’s serial number, which was taken off his dog tags and stated orally by Dietz. That search turned up the name John Cunningham Teahan, who was from New York and joined the Marines in April 1952. His searches also produced a John PAUL Diaz, who joined the Marines in 1949 and was from Oklahoma.
Another person at the history division said no “casualty card” or record of injury showed up for the incident in which Dietz claimed he was wounded in the head by flying metal while in a tank.
“Having three Purple Hearts and no casualty cards is a concern,” the woman said.
Dietz could not present the Journal with any proof of his graduation at Michigan or time spent in the Marines. He said his engineering degree and discharge papers were lost while he was living at the Oak Park YMCA in the mid-1980s. The best Dietz could do was showing checks he wrote to the University of Michigan Club in the late 1980s and early 1990s for his membership there.
He also showed a card for his membership in the Disabled American Veterans, an organization which requires discharge papers to join.
Sargent & Lundy LLC, an electrical company, confirmed that Dietz worked there on five separate occasions in the mid-1950s, 1960s, and late 1970s.
Tina Foster in human resources at the company said their records show Dietz was in the Marines for a few months in 1952 before he was honorably discharged.
“That’s the only thing that I see that he submitted to us,” Foster said.
Marianne Trifone, who met Dietz this past Memorial Day and contacted both the Journal and parade organizers, said: “I don’t believe that he’s purposely lying.”
“Everything’s so mixed up,” Dietz said when asked about the failure of Michigan and the Marines to produce his records. “One reason that I kept to myself for all these years was that anything to keep me in acceptable circumstances were all gone.”