WRIGHT Barry
Owen |
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Dr.
Barry Wright first came to our attention in late December 2003 but
it took until April 2005 to actually find him and ask some
questions,
initially we were only determined to
deny his claims to the US Air Medal, Infantry Combat Badge and pilots
wings. He could not, or would not, adequately or truthfully answer
questions posed by us in a letter and e-mails.
He
would have been actually better off by admitting he'd been caught out
and apologising to the relevant people when we first contacted him
because his
responses caused us to dig even further into his Military career.
Many times we thought
we were ready to publish our findings but as word of our
investigations got out, more and more damning evidence was
uncovered. This prompted further research into previously unthought-of
records and we discovered that this individual did a lot more than
spin some yarns at the club bar and pin on a few un-entitled medals and
badges.
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You
will be astounded by
what we found.
During our communications with Dr.
Barry Wright, he
stated.
"I am a Vietnam Veteran who served his country with honour. I
am a retired Officer of both the ARA
and the ARES which I served with honour and
distinction"
"I have always said I have had two tours - what I said is that
I have had two tours in SE Asia both of which were on active service,
one in the RAN and
one in the Army."
"I am a Veteran with honourable
Naval service. Serving in the FESR"
Comments
from former
Army Officers who knew
Barry Wright.
"Wright was a known liar,
everywhere"
"He was a lazy incompetent"
"He is a pathological liar"
"Barry Wright over many years
had told so many lies and fabricated so many stories that he would
have no idea what is truth and what is fantasy"
We asked yet another
former Army Officer to comment on Dr. Barry Wright's lies and deceit.
He wrote;
"The tragedy is, that he was not stopped
earlier in his miserable life"
Three more
comments for good measure.
"he was
raving about how he went back to the NAM (post 1971) and was doing
something in helicopters down in the Delta and I thought in your
dreams mate"..............
"When
he was here (Kuranda)
he ran a "scam" for people to acquire PhDs from a university
in Kentucky. All of the people he signed up passed the course and were
given PhDs"
"I
understand that he is currently (December
05) playing the invalid
with some malady related to his time as a world class gymnast"
Perhaps the attitudes
of Wright's superior officers toward him may be reflected in the date this teacher was
posted to
Vietnam, 24 December 70, and the method of his transport back to Australia to attend
to urgent domestic matters.
He was sent home on a ship, a nine day voyage with two or three more
days to get from Townsville to Sydney instead of a twelve hour
Saigon-Sydney flight. Apparently Barry didn't hold much sway
within the officer ranks even then; a
Private Soldier would have been
afforded much better treatment under
the same circumstances.
Barry Wright wrote; "You were supplied with a photo of me in
the presence of the G-G
wearing what I claim and believe are my proper entitlements.
At no time have I undertaken to falsely present or wear decorations
that I have no entitlement to" (here's the photo)
We
apologise to His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC,
(Ret), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia,
for masking his face but we felt it inappropriate to reproduce full
photos of him in the company
of the
likes of Barry Wright.
"At no time have I undertaken
to falsely present or wear decorations that I have no entitlement to"
In this photo Wright
is wearing miniatures
of the Australian Active Service Medal, the Vietnam Medal, the
Australian Service Medal, the
Defence Force Service Medal, the National Medal, the
US Air Medal and the Vietnamese Campaign Medal.
He is
not entitled to the last two and his records indicate he had
no Navy operational service so should
not be
recognised for the Australian Service Medal.
Wright has also been seen to illegally
wear the Infantry Combat Badge and pilot's wings while in
Kuranda, North Queensland.
These
were and are his post nominals.
Only the AM is in question here,
for now.
1988.
AM, BA(Hons), GradDipAbSt, MScSoc, PhD, TC, FRAI,
AAIM. (AM
is "Member of the Order of Australia")
June 2005.
BA(Hons), T Cert, MSc Soc,
GradDipAbSt, PhD, DSc, Cert
WTA, FRAI. What happened to the
AM? There are 5
university degrees listed here in bold font but he recently claimed to
have 7. We have confirmed all but
the DSC, Doctor of Science.
What we present in this exposure is in the face of threatened formal
legal action brought by Dr. Barry Wright. He has termed this
action, "criminal proceedings" and
will have us charged under the "Apprehended Violence provisions of
the Crimes Act" for
electronic stalking, harassment, threat and intimidation.
Once the appropriate authorities are alerted to the actions
of this disgraceful person, it will be him in the defendant's seat,
not us.
Read more of this
Army Education Corps Officer who,
during his three tours
in Vietnam, worked for the CIA, ASIS, flew
helicopters in combat, commanded an Infantry company, was
decorated for bravery when
wounded in action and still has shrapnel in his body after
all these years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Oh, he was a medical doctor, a
Government employed assassin
and an Olympic gymnast too.
Remember "Pilot"
"Doctor" "Assassin", his reasons
for these claims may be
explained at the end of the main
story.
Dr. BARRY OWEN
WRIGHT EXPOSED.
ARMY. Service
number 216720
"I served with honour and distinction"
Distinction?
Hardly, his service was much less than distinctive, it was even less
than ordinary, he is only
remembered for his laziness,
incompetence, and his lying ways.
Dr. Barry Wright's biography as presented in this
book that he claims to have
co-authored, not co-edited.
"WAR Australia & Vietnam Edited by Kenneth Maddock and Barry Wright"
(1987) ISBN: 0-06-312099-2
"Barry
Wright is a senior lecturer in the School of Humanities and
Applied Social Sciences at Nepean College of Advanced Education,
Sydney. Prior to starting a new career in academia in 1974 he
served in both the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Regular
Army as an Officer. He saw service in various areas of South-east
Asia, Papua New Guinea and as a Captain in South Vietnam. On
retiring from the regular Army in 1974 he continued to serve as an
Infantry Major in the Army Reserve until 1982"
This bio plays
games with the English language;
we'll discuss this below in detail.
Senior Lecturer.
This Nepean College is part of the University of
Western Sydney. Wright had told people he was an Emeritus Professor at
the University, which he was not;
also that he has a doctorate in Applied
Psychology.
He
told us that our question to him on being a Doctor of Applied
Psychology was not valid because there is no such degree.
Fair enough, we can only work with information supplied but he
didn't address our question on his Emeritus Professor claim, he
totally ignored it and didn't bother
to broach the subject of his DSc, our information wasn't far out.
Wright seems to have done quite a lot
of academic work while allegedly being in receipt of a DVA
compensation payment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He did some off campus work
for the University in 2001 and was an academic at the Nepean College
for a number of years prior to 1988.
We were told that he left
the college in 1988 due to medical problems arising from injuries
received during the Vietnam War
">>>he
served in both the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Regular Army
as an Officer. He saw service in various areas of South-east Asia,
Papua New Guinea and as a Captain in South Vietnam"
Officer.
He was not an Officer in the Navy;
this is one of his many tales about his
time in the Defence Forces.
Yes, he was an Army Captain in South
Vietnam with the Education Corps. Any
young Soldiers wishing to discuss further education after their return
to Australia could find Capt.
Wright in his air-conditioned library.
Service in various areas of SE
Asia.
Saigon
and Vung Tau do not constitute "various areas of SE Asia"
He was attached to the logistic
support group in Vung Tau, Vietnam, for 5 1/2
months with
the Army and that's all. See
more in the Navy section on this.
His
records show that he was going to be posted there in 1973
but he developed a skin
condition which prevented his deployment to tropical areas.
There is no other reference to this country;
apparently he never went near New Guinea during his Army or
Navy service.
">>>On retiring from the
regular Army in 1974 he continued to serve as an Infantry Major in
the Army Reserve until 1982"
Retired.
He did not "continue to serve
as an Infantry Major"
This could imply that he was in
the Infantry and a Major prior to leaving the Regular Army. He was an
Education Corps and a Survey Regiment Captain,
he didn't retire either.
This is how that "On retiring" sentence should have been written. "On
being placed in a situation where he had
to show reason why he
shouldn't
tender his resignation
from his Captain's commission in the Regular Army,
he had no defence and resigned,
promptly joining the Army
Reserve"
In an official letter from 2 Field
Survey Squadron dated 4/12/1973 and headed, "Resignation of
Commission, 216720 Captain B. Wright - RA Survey", Major E.
J. Laker wrote;
1...Attached herewith find
resignation submitted by the above officer on 3 Dec '73.
2...The above officer was transferred from Army Education to RA
Survey in Jan 1973. It was originally intended that
Captain Wright would, at an early date attend an overseas
course in photogrammetry. Shortly after his posting to AHQ Survey
Regiment it became apparent his mathematical background was not of
high enough standard for him to undertake the type of course
planned.
3...To provide some training in Survey techniques he was detached to
4 Field Squadron (Adelaide)
with the
intention that he should be taken on field operations in New
Guinea. Prior to movement to the field he developed a skin
condition which precluded his employment in tropical areas. He
then requested a posting to 2 Fd Svy Sqn (Sydney) in consideration
of [information deleted]
his wife. He joined 2 Fd Svy Sqn in September 1973 where he has
been employed as unit Administration officer.
4...Capt Wright has a University degree (BA(Sc)) and has teacher
training at Sydney Teachers College. In view of his qualifications
he wishes to follow his profession as a teacher and so should this
request be successful he would wish that his resignation become
effective before the commencement of the 1974 Academic year.
5...Your action is requested please. (END)
BA.(Sc).
Bachelor of Applied Science. Doubts
have been expressed as to the validity of this degree.
His BA Honours was
gained from Macquarie
University in 1975 as a result of his thesis on the
geography of diphtheria in New South Wales.
On
reading Major Laker's letter and
noting other information supplied, we gathered that Wright
didn't "retire" from the Regular Army,
he was asked or told to
resign due to his inability to cope with courses
in his new posting to RA Survey Regiment.
">>>On retiring from the regular Army in 1974 he continued
to serve as an Infantry Major in the Army Reserve until 1982"
June 2005, in a
letter to CPMH. "I served in the Royal Australian Infantry from 1976
till I resigned in 1985" Yes,
a Temporary Major with the Army Reserve, not the
Regular Army. Why do the years vary? 1974 or '76 to 1982 or '85.
It's very difficult to understand what is, and
what isn't the truth about
this man.
Records tell us that he went directly from the Regular Army to the
Reserves in January 1974, but he now tells us he
joined in 1976. We don't know exactly when he
resigned, or whatever, but it wasn't as late as 1985.
Perhaps Dr. Wright could confirm or deny this information
we received as to this Reserve service. His service wasn't
continuous, there was a break of nearly two years during the period
and he was discharged sometime in 1983 as a Temporary Major.
AWARDS
There are four
awards that he falsely lays claim to. The first has two
divisions which could be either military
or civil. They are,
Member of the Order of Australia (AM), the US
Air Medal, the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, and the Vietnamese
Civil "Affairs" Medal.
From the Nepean College of Advanced Education.
"I have checked the Nepean 1988 Calendar
and Barry's qualifications, which would have been verified by Human
Resources, are listed as follows:
AM, BA(Hons) (Macq), GradDipAbSt(SACAE), MScSoc(NSW), PhD(NSW),
TC(STC), FRAI, AAIM"
AM. "Member of the Order of
Australia" Not to be confused with the lesser OAM. It's
not known exactly when he began this deception and to use the post
nominal AM when not entitled is a serious offence.
From a Section within
the Prime Minister's Department;
"We have no record on our internal
Australian Honours List database of a Barry Wright regarding the award
of the Order of Australia"
One report from Queensland
stated that Wright had retired
from the Army Reserve as a
Major and had been seen on Anzac Days wearing what seemed to be
inappropriate decorations and awards for a person who served only one short
tour with HQ Australian Forces Vietnam.
These were the Infantry Combat Badge
(ICB), pilot's wings
and the US Air Medal. See more on
this under "Claims".
Vietnamese Campaign Medal.
Dr. Wright wrote,
"You question my right of entitlement of the South Vietnamese Medal.
I enclose a copy of my AB83 page that states I am awarded the above
medal and I received the above medal from the issuing authority with
my Regimental number and name engraved on it. I have always been of
the opinion that I am entitled to wear this medal. In your letter you
raise the issue of me having no such entitlement. If that is so I am
and have been unaware of that. I will contact Army records to
ascertain if I am entitled to the medal"
This
page bears no Routine Order
numbers, dates, rank of
the officer who signed it and no unit noted. We sincerely
doubt the authenticity of this document.
Yes, Dr Wright, you should contact Army records because this document
above has nothing to do with the award of the Vietnamese Campaign
Medal. If this is a true page from your AAB83, it shows that you were
approved to wear the "Ribbon of the Vietnamese
Campaign Medal subject to verification by CARO". Army and other Defence
Forces personnel
who had actually spent
enough time in Vietnam to be entitled to the award required this
notation in their AAB83s to lawfully wear the "Ribbon"
on their ribbon bar when returning to Australia.
His B103, a
record of service prior to 1974, does not note the Vietnamese
Campaign Medal. It only shows the award of the
Vietnam Medal which merely says that the man was posted to a unit on
active service in Vietnam for one day or longer. Surely his full medal
entitlement would have been recorded and
issued before he left the Army in January 1974, we believe it
was.
If Wright produces anything that says he is
entitled to this award, then there is something drastically wrong,
there is absolutely nothing of a legitimate nature that he
could provide to show any entitlement.
His Special Service, Vietnam Southern Zone, is
shown in records as 24 December 1970 to 1 June 1971 and this is
regarded as his "Operational Service". These dates include the
day his plane landed in Saigon and the day he disembarked from a
ship back in Australia.
A total of 181
days of recognised
operational service was required for the awarding of
the Vietnamese Campaign Medal
and his total of 159 days including travel time didn't allow
for this award to be made.
We know of people who were refused the medal
because they were just a few days short of the minimum
days required, let alone three
weeks.
Wright spent 149 days on Vietnamese soil.
Due to the Privacy Act
1988 we can't access entitlement to any awards made after 1973 so
here's the email address for you to do it Dr. Wright, kindly pass us
the reply. Please provide detailed information such as the name of
the Officer whose signature appears above, his rank and unit. The
dates that the stamps were applied would also be required along with
all information you provided to CARO when requesting the award.
dpe.honoursandawards@defence.gov.au
US Air Medal.
Barry Wright, correspondence received 26 & 29 July '05.
"The
central issue seems to be my being awarded the US "Air Medal". As I
have told you I have always acted in good faith and have always
believed that I am entitled to this award. I still do"
"Since
it is in question I will or you can write to Department of Defense
[sic] Honors [sic] and
Awards where I will ascertain if their
[sic] is a record of my being recognised for this award. I
will ask if I have an entitlement to wear it as I belive
[sic] I do. If their response is in the negative then I will
right [sic] to the US
Airforce [sic]
and ascertain if they have such a record. I do have the
medal and it was presented in an official US medal box which you
cannot buy" "The
paper work you request from me was sent to Army HQ"
In
other correspondence he used words such as "boarding" instead of
"bordering, also "Owardwellian" for "Orwellian", "council" for
"counsel" twice, and "rediculous"
He has gift for flowery language but no idea of
how to spell the words he uses. This seems odd for a man who is an
experienced teacher and holds Degrees
and Doctorates.
Following
Wright's suggestion that we contact Honours and Awards, here is their
answer, August 2005,
"According to our records, Mr. Wright has not applied for
formal approval to accept this award, and we have no other records of
Mr. Wright being offered this award.
Wright was posted to the Eastern Command Personnel Depot at the time
this letter was dated and signed, supposedly by CAPT Cosgrove.
1 216720 Capt. B.
WRIGHT RAAEC was awarded the United States Air Medal on 27 May
71 ?
2
The medal and evidence of presentation have been sighted and
verified ?
Wright made the
mistake of thinking his approved Special Service or Operational
Service dates, 23 Dec 70 to 1 June 71, referred to his time on
Vietnamese soil and this would have allowed for the presentation of
the medal to be made by Captain Mitchell on 27 May '71.
On 27 May 1971
Wright was on the high seas onboard HMAS Sydney returning to
Australia
from Vietnam.
The ship
left Vung Tau Harbour at 1330 hours, 23 May, arriving at
Townsville on 1 June.
He told us that his "logged
flight hours" were as a passenger. When we checked the the criteria
governing this award, they distinctly prohibit passengers from being
considered.
A senior member of the
former CPMH
emailed Wright and amongst other
questions, put this to him;
"How did a "Chalkie" Captain who was posted to HQ
AFV from 24 Dec 70 to 23 May 71 (actual time in-country) find
himself in the air with the
5th Avn Det Vung Tau accumulating 50 hours of flight time??
Look at that second
date, 23 May 71,
this
would have been the first indication Wright received
that the wrong date was used on this allegedly forged letter.
How did he react? Any wannabe who
would never admit to fraud such as this would ignore the question and
carry on regardless, but what did Wright do?
Prior to 21 October 05 he removed the US Air Medal from the row
of medals he wears. This
can
only suggest that he knew damn well he'd been caught out in his lies
and has no legitimate defence. This removal constitutes an admission
of fraud and forgery of a Military document.
You can now
remove the Vietnamese Campaign Medal as well,
Dr. Barry Wright PhD etc.
We sincerely hope that someone
in authority will investigate this "Notification of Foreign Award".
Perhaps Captain
Cosgrove's son could enlighten us as to the validity of the
signature on this document.
This
son is General Peter Cosgrove AC, MC,
former Chief of the Australian Defence Force.
Vietnamese "Civil Affairs" Medal
Wright told us he was awarded this medal
and that they were handed out liberally. Not so, this award
was earned by working with the civilian population in various
productive fields and was substantiated by citations issued by the
South Vietnamese Govt. We hold copies of citations from the period
Wright was in Vietnam and his copy should be in his records file,
it's not. Not only did he misname this medal, the relevant
Australian authority has no knowledge of him applying for
recognition of the award.
What
he erroneously calls the "Civil Affairs" Medal is actually called
the "Civil Actions" Medal. If he had the citation he would know
this.
Wright moved back
to Sydney in late 1999 and continued with his war stories. Many
people regarded him as a former Infantry Officer
who retired as a Lt.
Colonel.
CLAIMS
Barry Wright. "I
have always said I have had two tours - what I said is that I have had
two tours in SE Asia both of which were on active service, one in the
RAN and one in the Army"
When he was the Secretary of Kuranda (Cairns) RSL, many
members heard these claims and more.
Here's
one of Wright's stories that was passed on to us.
"While serving on HMAS VOYAGER
about 1962 (not 100% sure), a Lieutenant Commander approached him and
ordered him to pack and depart the ship. Wright said he was sent to
Swan Island and after some training, a Brigadier told him things were
hotting up in Vietnam, he was dispatched
to join Operation Phoenix - and that was only his first tour"
He was a Sailor onboard HMAS VOYAGER
from 7/11/61 to the date of his discharge, 31/1/63.
He attended a full time civilian
teacher training course in '63-'64
and another education course in '65, enlisting in the Army in
December '65. Not much time there for spook training or a trip to
Vietnam to work with the CIA in a
program that had yet to come into existence.
The
NAVY section of our story reveals
the real reason he departed the ship in January '63.
More
Barry Wright tales provided by people
who know him well.
"He was the Skipper of a helicopter".
He actually had a pilot's helmet in his house and told visitors that
it was the helmet he wore when he was a pilot. The rear of the
helmet had a peace symbol painted on it.
"His second tour was as a helicopter pilot".
Wright had paraded an American citizen, "Cecil", to all at Kuranda
RSL, later he said Cecil is
a Veteran who had flown with him
in Vietnam. Cecil was actually
a helicopter pilot in
Vietnam.
During our
investigations, one person said he had,
"Never heard Wright make claims
of operating on secret missions with the CIA but had heard from him
that he was involved in intelligence work in Vietnam"
This same person had also
heard his tales of being involved in combat while an
Infantry Company Commander.
Many people have heard
him tell many different stories of his war time exploits. Here
are four more ridiculous examples.
1...."Barry Owen Wright has told me the following
stories about his involvement during his two tours of
Vietnam
and his return to
Australia
working with a very secret unit."
2...."Wright made claim that he and a number of other
people in the secret unit being responsible for despatching 'The Jackal'
many years ago. I and a number of other people have been told how a
section of the Hume
Highway was sealed
off and that he and at least one other person shot and killed The Jackal
with silenced pistols. The section involved then had a big party at his
house (Wrights house) somewhere in
Sydney"
3...."He claimed also that when he was a company
commander in
Vietnam his
company had just settled in for an evening meal. He noticed that there
was an extra person in the group. He asked who was on guard and one of
his soldiers stated that Nigel was. He recounts that he could not
remember any of his diggers named Nigel. His CSM took him to one of the
guard points and there they had 'Nigel the Nog' with a bayonet thru his
throat and into a coconut tree which held his head upright - and stated
that Nigel the Nog was on guard duty"
4....Also "He and Cecil Johnson were both helicopter pilots
came over a rise of some kind, saw a number of VC and fired on them and
wasted the lot"
This "very secret
unit" business doesn't require much thought or investigation, here's
why. "The Jackal", who could only be
the killer "Carlos", was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997,
he's in a French prison today.
Here
are some "snippets" from another person
who heard Wrights tall tales.
"Barry told me many stories of
his exploits in Vietnam. He stated that his first tour was one with
the CIA in Operation Phoenix and also at some stage he flew
helicopters with CWO Cecil Johnston Jnr. US Army"........"I
visited Barry at his home, I did see an olive green flying
helmet"........."Barry had an
impressive array of medals on his chest on Anzac Days and also wore
the Infantry Combat Badge" (ICB)
There is absolutely no
possibility that an Education Corps Captain
could have accumulated
90 days as an Infantryman in
warlike operations to be eligible for
the ICB.
And from another person who knew
Wright in Vietnam and Australia.
"Anyway
as the years passed I think I may have spoken to him once more in
xxxxxxx
and he was
raving about how he went back to the NAM (post 1971) and was doing
something in helicopters down in the Delta and I thought in your
dreams mate, but didn't challenge him on it" ">>> "he
started raving about how his war service had ruined his life"
This conversation took place in the
1990s, with Barry Wright claiming a third tour in Vietnam.
On
20 June 2005, Wright wrote;
"I spent many hours moving
around much of Vietnam visiting AATTV personnel and
units as well as the other RAAF units in SVN"
"Other RAAF units" ???? We have no idea what this refers to.
We firmly believe that
Wright took stories such as this from a
book that includes the fantasies of another Education Corps Officer
who dreamt he was the paymaster for far flung AATTV outposts and
personnel. This officer, now deceased, adopted the duties of the
only real Education Corps Officer who was posted
to AATTV.
So, we have the factual Ed Corps
officer whose duty early 1968 was to
visit AATTV personnel in the field, then we
have the second Ed Corps officer who thought he did this in 1967-68,
but didn't, and now we have another Ed Corps officer who is trying
to place himself in a similar situation in 1971.
Like most wannabe's b/s we
encounter, Wright's is highly unoriginal, except for the "Jackal"
story of course. That little bit of theatre earns him our award for
the second most stupid wannabe of 2005, James Alwyn Montgomery being
the ultimate fool.
"I am a
foundation member of the VVAA
attending the original meetings in 1979" We contacted one
person who was at these meetings and he doesn't remember Wright
being in attendance.
One more statement regarding
Wright and his dreams.
"In xxxxxxx
in my presence he has claimed to be a Medical Doctor, a military
helicopter pilot decorated for rescuing wounded soldiers from a mine
field, a gymnast who represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympic
Games and a Royal Australian Naval Officer"
">>>> his
family all
believe that he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, where he was
wounded and decorated for bravery in the minefield incident referred
to"
Wright informed us of his Army
Reserve postings and duties.
"I
served as a field rank officer"
A Captain who was elevated to the rank of Temporary Major in 1975.
"Field rank" begins at full or substantive Major.
Officer Commanding Basic
Training Wing.
GSOI Systems Training Officer HQ
Training Command. This
seems odd in that this duty would have been undertaken by a
Regular Army Lieutenant Colonel, not a Reserve Officer and not a Captain/Temporary
Major.
Officer Commanding
A Coy 4RNSWR.
We're checking on this now.
Battalion Training Officer 4RNSWR.
Was this posting in existence during his
time? We're checking.
Instructor TAC
5 course. We
believe that one had to be at least a
Lt. Colonel to instruct TAC 5. Majors instructed lower courses. (TAC,
Tactical Arms Course)
Without telling
us exactly what rank he
held during his Reserve postings,
the above allude to him holding the rank of Lt Colonel which is
what he told some people in
Sydney. The full story on
Wright's Army Reserve service will be available soon.
NAVY
RAN, service
number R42100,
31/12/57 to 30/1/63 also RAN Reserve, number
S12247,
30/12/63 to 30/1/65.
Quote.
"I am a Veteran with honourable Naval
service. Serving in the FESR"
"Honourable Naval service" ?
A Navy apprentice, a boy of 16 who signed up for 12 years to learn a
trade and was discharged after only 5
years.
Discharged for either an inability to complete courses or personal
problems. One of these is the reason
for him leaving HMAS Voyager and the
Navy in December 1963, not his
fantasy as shown in our Claims section.
"Serving in the FESR" The Far
Eastern Strategic Reserve. No mention of this in his records under
"Service in Special Areas and Operational Service" although he was
posted to HMAS Voyager when the ship undertook an
uneventful 17 day escort duty to SE Asian
waters. This was the only operational service for the ship during his
342 days onboard and is what he now
claims as a "tour in South East Asia"
He makes quite a deal out of being in
the SEATO Strategic Reserve for five months as
well, he didn't go anywhere or do anything so we don't
understand what this is all about.
When applying for a Short Service Commission with the Army Education
Corps in 1965 he offered some false information.
Without going into great detail, the
following information was mixed with fact and appears in his records.
"Ships
Schoolmaster on HMAS VOYAGER from 20/2/62 to 31/1/63"
We have been
informed that there were no Instructing Officers on ships the size of
Voyager, a destroyer. He may have assisted some other young sailors in
his spare time but "Ships Schoolmaster" was going too far.
"Qualified for promotion to
Engineer Sub Lieutenant (Educationally) in Royal Navy"
Qualified
is the
wrong word, it should be Eligible, and even then
only after many interviews and
assessments.
There is nothing in his records to
suggest that his education standard was anything better than fair. He
averaged 68 in his educational tests based on a 5th year of High
School standard, Geography and History being his best subjects.
"Qualified Ordnance Artificer
1st class RAN" He was not qualified and never rose above
Ordnance Artificer 4th Class (machinist, fitter and turner) in the RAN
and only rose to OA 2nd class in the Reserve.
"Discharged F" According
to the Naval Records Historical Unit, this type
of discharge could mean that he continually failed to pass a course
and his services were no longer required or domestic problems
prevented him from continuing his service.
"Have completed 12 months in RAN Reserve OTC
14" Records
note that he served at
HMAS Watson 30/12/1963 - 26/1/1964, at HMAS Kuttabul 17/8/1964 -
6/9/1964 and again at Kuttabul from 20/12/1964-30/1/1965. In the
“Remarks” field it states “Approve 13 days WATSON”, “Approve 21 days
KUTTABUL” and “Approve 42 days KUTTABUL"
He completed 76
days of active Reserve service at these shore based facilities.
There
is no mention of OTC 14 (Officer Training Course) in his records.
"Teacher's Certificate - Sydney Teacher's College. Received
Dec. 1964" Wright did complete a two year teacher's training
course but Sydney Teacher's College did not
issue certificates, they were issued by the NSW Department of
Education once teachers had completed their training and entered the
teaching service. We can't access further information as to his
accreditation as a teacher but according to him, he attended a
technical college pre diploma course for the entire period of 1965 for
the study of Maths, Physics and Chemistry. He doesn't appear to have
passed this course or have gone any further with his teacher training
because he hasn't added DipEd (Diploma of Education) to his list of
post nominals.
Wright applied for Army enlistment in
June 1965, was discharged from the Naval Reserve at own request on
16/12/65, and was in the Army four days later.
Were the claims of higher education,
training, and teaching experience the reasons for Wright being
accepted into the Army Education Corps as an Officer,
a Lieutenant? There's nothing else in his history that would
impress senior Army Officers sufficiently
to allow this.
FINAL
Dr. Barry Wright told us
that he never wears medals or attends commemorative days, more
lies.
The last two medals on the
right hand side are the US Air Medal and the Vietnamese Campaign
Medal.
He wore these medals on
Anzac Day 1991 and every commemorative occasion at Kuranda until
1999 . After moving back
to Sydney he attended parades wearing them
but when questioned on his entitlement to some, he
began attending parades in Canberra, once again wearing his
un-entitled medals.
Barry
Wright again.
"I have no wish to cause any person offence or distress, I act
in good faith in the knowledge that my credentials and medals were
awarded in good faith and sincerity. My academic qualifications
are all earned through much hard work undertaken as a part-time or
correspondence student. If there is an error it was not of my
making and of course if that is the case I would and do
apologize [sic] sincerely to those so offended"
Are there errors Dr Wright?
Wright may have to do more
than just apologise if he has
used phoney war stories to gain the Special Rate of
disability compensation (TPI) from the Department of Veteran's
Affairs
because the DVA
Fraud Control Unit may be interested in reviewing his
claims of Army
service.
According to Wright,
he sits on committees that decide whether children of Veterans
receive tertiary study bursaries or not, the
Long Tan Bursary is one
of them and it is now funded by the Dept
of Veteran's Affairs.
Further information tells us that he is an assessor for the AVCAT
(education bursary) scheme as well.
This person, who;
Has
a limited grasp of the English language.
Offered
false information when applying
for an Army Officer's commission.
Allegedly
forged Military documents.
Is a fraud and one of the
most blatant wannabes we have ever dealt with, makes
decisions on the educational futures of Veteran's children.
What's wrong with
this picture?
A recent Wright grab for Veteran
attention and acclaim was to arrange for his name to appear in the
credits on the cover of the James Blundell DVD "Postcards from Saigon"
We have been informed that he had
absolutely nothing to do with the production, his name shouldn't be
there and it will be removed from any further releases.
On our opening page we asked you to remember these Barry Wright
claims, "Pilot" "Doctor" "Assassin"
He
is a real life version of
James Thurber's fictional character
"Walter Mitty", a meek, mild man with a
vivid
fantasy life who imagines himself to be a wartime pilot, an
emergency-room surgeon and a devil-may-care killer.
We
feel that to
regard Wright as just a commonplace, unadventurous person who seeks
escape from reality through daydreaming would be a mistake.
The affable "Mitty" kept his daydreams to himself, Wright made his
public knowledge for career and further personal gain.
Should Dr. Barry Wright offer a rebuttal to our exposure of his
lies, it will be included in an update.
Please use this area for any
comments on this matter.
information@anzmi.net
Should you wish to contact
the Vietnam Veteran's Association of Australia NSW Branch Inc.
affiliated with the Vietnam Veteran's Federation of Australia
(VVFA), their website is at
www.vvfagranville.org.au
Any replies you may receive should be from
Mr Bob Freshfield, Jnr
Vice President,
Vietnam
Veterans Association of
Australia,
NSW Branch Inc.
who is also the webmaster of the VVFA National Association website.
Later you can scroll down our Cases page and read Robert (Bob)
Freshfield's pack of lies as well.
If you want a sensible reply from this
organisation, contact the VVFA National
Secretary, Nev Woodward.
nevwoodward@hotmail.com
29 Apr 2006
As mentioned in our story
above, Dr. Barry Wright has indeed removed the US Air Medal from
his bar therefore constituting, in our minds, an admission of
fraud and forgery of Army documents.
These photos
were taken on ANZAC Day 2006 in Burnie Tasmania.
As you can see, he has retained
the Vietnam Campaign Medal (last on his left) to which he is not
entitled.
Remove this medal too Dr.
Wright or show good reason why we should not make this demand.
You might also provide us
with documentation proving your entitlement to the
Australian Service Medal because there is nothing in your
service records to indicate your entitlement to it. It
should have a clasp on the riband too.
 7 May 2006
Front page of the Cairns Post 25 April 2005
here
This is published in the public interest, particularly that of the
Vietnam Veteran community. All information presented is fact and
the truth. Information was sourced
from communications from
Wright, Military records, and
reports received from private citizens. These reports are
supported by statements of fact and statutory declarations.
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