John P. Wheeler III

John P. Wheeler III

John Parsons Wheeler III, known as Jack Wheeler, was an American businessman. He was chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and senior planner for Amtrak. He worked as a presidential aide to the Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations. He died under mysterious circumstances on December 30, 2010.

About John P. Wheeler III in brief

Summary John P. Wheeler IIIJohn Parsons Wheeler III, known as Jack Wheeler, was an American businessman. He was chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and senior planner for Amtrak. He died under mysterious circumstances on December 30, 2010. Wheeler was descended from a family of military professionals which included Joseph Wheeler, who had served as a general both in the Confederate Army, and later with the United States Army. Wheeler’s West Point and later years are featured prominently in Rick Atkinson’s book, The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point’s Class of 1966. In the 1988 television film To Heal a Nation, Wheeler was played by Marshall Colt, four years his junior and the former co-star with James Arness in the crime drama McClain’s Law.

He had two children from his first marriage, John Parsons IV, and Katherine Marie Wheeler. He has two stepdaughters from his second marriage, Katherine Marie and Katherine Parsons. He worked as a presidential aide to the Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations. He also held numerous other positions in the U.S. military, government, and corporations. He supported the controversial Maya Lin design, which was opposed by Ross Perot and Jim Webb, and added The Three Soldiers sculpture by Frederick Hart to the memorial. In 1984, Wheeler published a memoir, Touched with Fire: The Future Of the Vietnam Generation. He founded the Vietnam Children’s Fund and was the founding CEO of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving.