Editing Joseph Ellis (section)

==False claims of combat service and anti-war leadership==
In June 2001, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' revealed that Ellis had misled his students in lectures and the public through the media about his role in the [[Vietnam War]] years. Ellis falsely claimed that he had been involved in protests in the [[civil rights movement]] and [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war movement]] in the 1960s.<ref name="PI">{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/books/202551_ellis07.html|title=Ellis doesn't want to revisit his own past|last=John|first=Marshall|date=2004-12-07|work=Seattle Post Intelligencer|access-date=2008-07-08}}</ref> He also repeatedly claimed to have fought in the Vietnam War. In one of his lectures, Ellis stated that he had been involved in helping to clear an area near My Lai shortly before a [[My Lai massacre|well-known massacre]] was carried out in the village. In a 2000 interview, he claimed to have been a platoon leader, a paratrooper in the [[101st Airborne Division]], and to have served on the staff of General [[William Westmoreland]] in [[Saigon]]. In actuality, although he had been in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War era, Ellis had never served in Vietnam at all.<ref name="LaT6192001"/>

Ellis issued a public apology in August 2001.<ref>{{cite press release | first=Joseph | last=Ellis | url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/news/ellisstatement.html| title=Further Statement of Joseph J. Ellis| publisher=Mount Holyoke College | date=2001-08-17| access-date=2006-08-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060715135033/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/news/ellisstatement.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-07-15}}</ref> He cited rumors at Mount Holyoke campus that he had served in Vietnam but would not talk about it because of some disturbing experience as something that led him to fabricate claims of service. He said that he had felt guilty about not actually serving in Vietnam.<ref name="PI"/> In the ensuing controversy, Mount Holyoke suspended him without pay for a year. He returned to the classroom at the end of that time.<ref>{{cite press release |first=Joanne |last=Creighton |url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/news/ellisdecision.shtml |title=A Letter to the Mount Holyoke Community |publisher=Mount Holyoke College |date=2001-08-17 |access-date=2006-08-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621123107/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/news/ellisdecision.shtml |archive-date=June 21, 2006 }}</ref> However, Ellis was prohibited from again teaching his course on the 1960s, during which most of his fabrications were made.<ref name="PI"/> In May 2005, Mount Holyoke restored his position as Ford Foundation Professor of History.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/csj/052005/chairs.shtml| title=Trustees Name Four Faculty Members to Endowed Chairs| publisher=[[Mount Holyoke College]]| date=2005-05-20| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011213551/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/csj/052005/chairs.shtml| archive-date=October 11, 2012| df=mdy-all}}</ref>