A Cedar Crest man whose photos of Vietnam were recently displayed at a local gallery was never a Navy SEAL, as he has claimed.
William H. “Butch” Chesterfield, 68, was featured in the Journal’s Arts section on Jan. 22 in a story about an exhibit of photos he said he shot as a Navy SEAL during the Vietnam War.
Chesterfield did serve in the military, but he was never a member of the Navy’s elite special forces teams.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael A. Raney of the Naval Special Warfare Command’s public affairs office near San Diego said Chesterfield never attended the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course – a rigorous six-month course that every prospective SEAL must complete before advancing their SEAL training.
“There’s nobody with the last name Chesterfield in our database at all,” Raney said.
The Navy Special Warfare Command maintains a database of everyone who has attended the course – known by its acronym, BUD/S. The database goes back as far as 1943, when the Navy was training “frogmen” for underwater demolition.
Anyone who is not in the database was never a SEAL, Raney said. “SEAL” is an acronym for Sea, Air and Land Teams.
The Journal received several emails questioning the veracity of Chesterfield’s SEAL claim.
When questioned about it recently, Chesterfield initially said the Navy’s records were wrong, but he later acknowledged that he has never been a SEAL.
“During my last tour in Vietnam, I lived, ate, slept and fought with SEALs. I was wounded while I was with them, and we saw guys die,” Chesterfield said.
“I never went to BUD/S, but I did everything they (SEALs) did. I feel like I was part of them,” he said.
After returning from Vietnam, Chesterfield said, he told people he was a SEAL because, “That was the easiest way to explain what I did over there.”
Terry Breedlove, owner of The Watermelon Gallery in Cedar Crest, which hosted Chesterfield’s exhibit Jan. 7 through Feb. 3, said he was stunned when he learned Chesterfield was never a SEAL.
“It’s unbelievable to me,” Breedlove said. “I’m a veteran … so this is like a kick in the stomach to me.”
Proceeds from the exhibit were to be donated to the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
The exhibit included a framed collection of Chesterfield’s military ribbons and the famed SEAL Trident, a silver metal badge awarded only to full-fledged SEALs. On the flier announcing the exhibit, a quote attributed to Chesterfield states, “My pride and joy … is my Trident.”
Don Shipley, a former Navy SEAL and official “SEAL verifier” for the P.O.W. Network, said he has investigated hundreds of such claims.
“These imposters are stealing the valor earned by real SEALs who made incredible sacrifices, and who are still making those sacrifices, to carry the title of Navy SEAL,” Shipley said. “In my book, that’s intolerable.”
Pete Comstock, former commander of the New Mexico Department of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said Chesterfield – who has claimed to have earned three Purple Heart medals for wounds suffered in combat – resigned from the organization last week.
The organization requires prospective members to provide a copy of their Report of Separation From Active Duty – commonly known as a DD-214 – to prove that they were awarded a Purple Heart. The DD-214 lists dates of service, units, type of discharge, medals awarded and other information.
Comstock said the DD-214 Chesterfield provided shows he received a Purple Heart while serving four years in the Air Force. Chesterfield has said his Air Force service was followed by 19 years in the Navy.
Comstock said he, too, was shocked to hear Chesterfield was not a SEAL.
“I believe he served with (SEALs) in some capacity in Vietnam, but to take on that persona and decide he was a SEAL, and promote that all these years … I just don’t get it,” Comstock said.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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