UPDATE: Records show Miguel "Mike" Valles served one year in the U.S. Army - Not a "Green Beret"https://rkcolejr.blogspot.com/2022/11/update-miguel-mike-valles-served-one.htmlAfter renewing my subscription to Ancestry.com, I conducted a series of searches which resulted in information from the U.S. Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The documentation I present here proves that Miguel Angel Valles served only one year in the U.S. Army and could not have been a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces "Green Berets" in Vietnam.
Miguel A.Valles was a native of Mexico. At some point as a child, he entered the U.S. and later became a Naturalized U.S. Citizen. According to the U.S. Social Security Death Index, Valles was issued the Social Security Number: 453-90-2961 at age 17 in 1966.
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loginA search of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS database yielded his dates of enlistment and discharge from the U.S. Army.
"The BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem) Death File is a Veterans Benefits Administration database that lists information for deceased individuals who had received benefits from the Veterans Administration while they were alive."
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/The database lists Valles's dates of service as: Date of Enlistment: 4 December 1970 - Date of Discharge: 2 December 1971
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loginI expect my FOIA request to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to take at least 4-6 weeks to process. However, I am confident the response will show matching dates of service, as well as unit assignments, any decorations or awards, and the type of discharge.
The U.S Federal Government-provided information I have published here and in the previous post indicates that Valles enlisted (volunteered), was not a draftee, and received an Honorable or Medical Discharge.
Valles was not a "Green Beret"Valles's dates of service and rank at discharge conflict with the basic requirements of a soldier for admission into the U.S. Special Forces.
In addition, a review of the history of the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam also proves that the claims made about Valles's service by Richard Ramirez and writer Philip Carlo are absolutely false.
Most of the soldiers who served as "Green Berets" in Vietnam served with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). The 5th SFG had already begun to withdraw its units from Vietnam 8 months before Valles enlisted in December 1970.
By the time of Valles's discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1971, the 5th SFG had already returned to Ft. Bragg, NC eight months earlier.
"In April 1970, 5th SFG began reducing its number of personnel in Vietnam. Later in November and December, further reductions in personnel and extraction of companies ensued, ending in a complete withdrawal of the group by March.[19] On 5 March 1971, the 5th SFG returned to Fort Bragg"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Special_Forces_Group_(United_States)#Vietnam_War
