Anatomy of a Bust
      story by: Captain Larry W. Bailey, USN, Ret. (SEAL)
      photos by: Steven L. Waterman
       
      NOTE: This operation took place in the middle of August 1999 in Stoneham, MA.
       
      Also read the Boston Globe article, 5 SEP 99.
       
       
      "This is who? BBC? Like in ENGLAND? You're kidding! Really? Well, what can we do for you?"
      So began the first foray of your humble Naval Special Warfare Archives wannabe-busters into the world of international news media, and what a foray it was. Not only did the team (composed of R. D. Russell, Ty Zellers, Don Tocci, and Larry Bailey) succeed in busting one of the slimiest of the wannabes, they also had a bunch of fun doing it. In addition, they demonstrated that pretending to be a SEAL is not without price, as one wannabe extraordinaire can confirm.
       
      But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's go back a few months, when someone from the Boston area contacted the Archives about one Wayne Higley, who claimed to be a Viet Nam-era SEAL who had won the Navy Cross and received three Purple Hearts. Seems this fellow was deeply involved in the setting up of the Moving Viet Nam Wall in Stoneham, Massachusetts, home town of Don Tocci, ex-SEAL Team TWO operator. He was also a guest speaker at a ceremony held at the Women's Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, DC, in 1994, at which time he was interviewed on "Good Morning America" about his wartime exploits.
       
      Higley had the veterans of the Stoneham/Boston area in the palm of his hand; not only did they believe his stories, but they trusted and honored him in a major way. In return, he fed them more lies and created ever-more-impressive stories about his exploits, including appropriating Don Tocci's Purple Heart account as his own. He had also taken SEAL Mike Thornton's Medal of Honor citation and used it verbatim, except he had changed the award to a Navy Cross for Wayne Higley! Talk about a slimeball!
       
      Well, late in 1998 we succeeded in convincing all those with whom Higley was dealing that he was a phony; just how phony we are only now learning. The only thing he told the truth about was being in the Navy, but he was not just ANY navy man! A high-school dropout (9th grade), he enlisted in the Naval Reserve for a two-year tour in 1964 and served the entire time as a member of Beachmaster Unit TWO in Little Creek, VA, where he made several deployments aboard amphibious shipping. NEVER did he leave the Atlantic, much less go to Viet Nam. Never did he get any ribbon or medal, nor did he attend a single school.
       
      His time in the Reserves totaled six years, and he advanced to the exalted pay grade of Seaman (E3) before he was separated in 1970. Not surprisingly, he was specifically NOT recommended for reenlistment. One supposes that it was somewhere around this time that he realized he was coming up short in life and needed to construct a history he could live with. The history he chose, of course, was that of a SEAL, and it was a SEAL whom his wife thought she was marrying. Poor lady, she has stuck with him right up to the present.
       
      When the Archives gang exposed Higley last year, we all assumed that he would never, ever surface as a SEAL again, but were we wrong. Don Tocci informed us at East Coast Reunion in July that Higley had offered his services as a speaker to the Rockland, MA, chapter of the US Veterans, Viet Nam Era. (Rockland is on the opposite side of Boston from Stoneham, and Higley supposed they hadn't heard about him over there.) And, no, it wasn't to regale the group with his tales of the amphibious deployments and lane markers associated with BMU-2, it was to recount his derring-do as a member of SEAL Team ONE in Viet Nam!
       
      Don's little item of intelligence spurred the old farts of the Archives into action as few stimuli can, and, just as they were debating among themselves what action should be taken, Robin Barnwell of BBC-TV called R.D. Russell, Archives founder-director, who directed him to Larry Bailey. Robin was looking to do a piece on phony SEALs for "Front Line," BBC's counterpart to ABC's "20-20." Boy, did he come to the right place!
       
      After considering such wannabe luminaries as Selig Solomon, Keith Bonner, and Jack Ladd (all "heroes" in their own rights), Robin thought Wayne Higley was just the ticket. First, he was easier to get to from a British perspective (east coast locale). Next, he was a particularly notorious example of what a SEAL would never allow himself to become in middle age (fat, lazy, and just plain sorry). Finally, he had violated his 1998 promise never, never, never to pretend to be a SEAL again, Amen!
       
      So it was that Robin and Julian Pettifer, one of BBC's more prominent journalists, arrived in Washington, DC, on August 7th, 1999. The same day R.D. flew in from Denver, and Ty Zellers drove down from Pennsylvania. On Monday BBC started filming background material at the Viet Nam Memorial ("The Wall") and at Larry's house. Following a tedious day of cinematography, the two Brits, their cameraman, and your three decrepit SEALs flew to Boston and began to work on their nefarious plan of "busting" Wayne Higley on camera.
       
      It was a dirty, rotten job, but somebody had to do it, and Russell, Zellers, Tocci, and Bailey were just the ticket. Several hours Tuesday were spent filming aboard a tourist boat in Boston Harbor. The scenario was that we were chasing Higley and deciding what to do with him when he was caught. (But on the bow of a tourist boat? Never mind, we forced ourselves to accommodate the fantasies of BBC-TV.) Then on Tuesday night we were the guests of the Rockland Viet Nam veterans group, and the BBC camera recorded the disgust of these genuine vets with the antics of Higley. There were some exceptionally poignant comments made by those patriotic men and women about how they had been deceived.
       
      At this stage, all was going well with our little plan to entice Higley into our web, but it began to fall apart the next morning, when he failed to keep an appointment with the BBC crew in their hotel suite. We were all set up to spring the trap. Don Tocci was stashed at a nearby bagel shop to keep him out of sight, and Steve Waterman had his camera locked and loaded. The plan was for Higley to be interviewed and then for us "old guys" to ambush him as he left the hotel. So much for the original plan. After a short discussion, it was decided that the BBC boys would follow the SEALs to Higley's home in Stoneham. The SEALs would march right up and knock on his door and hope that he could be persuaded to come outside and be busted in the camera's eye.
       
      Believe it or not, that's exactly what happened, to the shock and joy of all of us who thought we had been compromised. Larry knocked on Higley's door and asked him to step outside, which he did. Upon seeing the TV cameras and the SEAL caps on the heads of the three frogmen, though, he immediately went back inside. Larry told Higley that he could come on outside and do this in a civilized manner or that we would make a major scene on his doorstep in front of his public-housing neighbors. Mrs. Higley (God bless her) said, "Wayne, go outside."
       
      The instant he stepped off his porch, poor Higley was passionately confronted by R.D., Ty, and Larry, who tore into him with the vengeance that had been accumulating for months. And the BBC camera was rolling, and the wires worn by the SEALs were recording every word! One of the SEALs remarked, "Wayne, we are your worst nightmare come true, three real SEALs and a TV crew!" Things really went downhill for Higley at that point. In the background noise we could hear the whine of Steve Waterman's Nikon cranking away, recording this event for the Naval Special Warfare Archives and further publication.
       
      Nobody, and I mean nobody, could have withstood the onslaught of words and saliva thrown at poor Higley. Within seconds he was turned into a mass of gelatin, and he begged us to forgive him. He said, "I swear to God that I will NEVER pretend to be a SEAL again!" But nothing was going to deter them from venting their considerable spleens at this detestable specimen of patriotic American.
       
      Finally, after several minutes of "heart-to-heart" communications, Higley just sort of dribbled his way back to his apartment, where I'm sure his missus had a few choice words for him. After a few more minutes of camera- and sound work, the BBC boys finally called it a day, or so they said. "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Those suckers followed us back to Don Tocci's house and interviewed us for another hour! Ah, well, such is the price of stardom!
       
      The latest information we have is that the segment will be aired sometime in October over BBC. We anticipate that the BBC channel available via cable and satellite in this country will broadcast it so all SEALs can view it, because it will truly be an interesting piece. In addition, we have been promised several copies, which we hope can be made available to those who are interested.
      END
       
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      MORE PHOTOS BELOW

      RD Russell, Don Tocci, and Larry Bailey listen intently as Dick DelRossi (Stoneham Police Officer), relates the story of how he and many others were taken in by Wayne Higley's lying and deception.

       
       

      RD Russell, Wayne Higley, Larry Bailey, of the NSWA, confront fake SEAL Wayne Higley in front of his home in Stoneham, MA, as a crew from the BBC records the event.

       
      Got suspicions about one of your 'SEAL' buddies. Go here for instructions on how to report this person.
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