Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/John Yettaw (2nd nomination)
Tony Dokoupil (''Newsweek'') is truly a gifted journalist----but w/regard Yettaw, ''too'' gifted, in a way, able to swell up vague recollections by John Yettaw's former family members into an ostensible background for the man. Just one example (of scores of details of this nature): Dorris Brochu (Monrovia, California) says something to the effect of that former son-in-law John Yettaw was a no-good who lay about the house all day, his contractor's license an unused piece of paper...whereas chatter I have read indicates him to have constructed and sold a number of properties in Cali and also in Missouri! In any case, IMHO, just as the former WP article for Jeffrey Vernon Merkey could not pass muster with regard to "do no harm," repetition of vaguely researched gossip about John William Yettaw is not ethical, important to be covered, necessary to be read as part of WP's line-up of encyclopedically researched and verified biographies of living persons. Yettaw remains a mystery. For example, is he a Vietnam veteran? Wikipedia and Dokoupil say no (''viz''):"According to family members, Yettaw was a veteran of the Vietnam War with nearly two years of battle experience, and was once wounded in action. However, records from the National Personnel Records Center show that he was stationed in West Germany, not Vietnam"-- whereas CNN's "American Morning" co-host/anchor Kiran Chetry says yes:"Motivated by visions, the retired bus driver and Vietnam vet wanted to do something to bring attention to the plight of the Myanmar people. But the plan met with objections from his family." IMO Yettaw's background pretty much remains his personal business, its not yet having passed into anything approximating "verified and accurate, public knowledge" at all. Note the quote by the associate of Yettaw's that Dirk Vanderhart and Susan Saulny (''The New York Times'') used in the following:"Mr. Webb described him after the release as 'not a well man' but also added: 'I believe what happened was regrettable. He was trying to help. He’s not a mean-spirited human being.' ¶ Mr. Yettaw’s neighbors and friends said they had been praying for his safety, even while they do not fully understand what happened in Myanmar or why he went. Some thought the trip had to do with graduate studies in psychology, or perhaps a book Mr. Yettaw told them he wanted to write. ¶ 'I’ll be glad to see him back,' said one friend, Michael Assel, a retired Navy officer. 'I would not question his motives like so many people have done. In my opinion, it’s just his business. He got in trouble and for a while, it looked like he wouldn’t get home, but he did, so I’m happy about that.'"Despite the fact that, as M.J. Stephey (Dec. 8th ''Time'' magazine) has written, Yettaw has become "a magnet for international scorn and speculation" . . .'''“'''Wikipedia is not...a vehicle for propaganda.... Therefore, content hosted in Wikipedia is not for...scandal mongering or gossip. Articles about living people are required to meet an especially high standard, as they may otherwise be libellous or infringe the subjects' right to privacy. Articles should not be written purely to attack the reputation of another person.'''”'''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;---'''
— User:Justmeherenow, 23:39, 20 December 2009 (UTC)
Stance: comment
Cited policy: WP:NOTSCANDAL (Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not)