How well do you really know people?

     This will be a tough post to read as it's a tough post to write.  When you think you actually know someone after 2.5 years of working with them and helping them and find out they are nowhere close to the the person they portray, it's pretty difficult, in this case devastating.
  Nate Dub aka Nate Waldera reached out to me in the fall of 2014 to ask for consultation on a 100 mile paddle.  He told me his story of military service as a sniper in the army, how his humvee blew up and he was the only survivor, how the ptsd from that incident and all the confirmed kills he had as a sniper was mentally destroying him.  Naturally, hearing his story i opened myself to him and told him I'd help him with his paddle and wanted to go along.
   He spent 2015 coming to St. Louis and paddling with me and lots of emails, phone calls, and texts. I got to know him pretty well or so I thought. Everything was a lie. He sold me his story. He con'd me. He sold everyone his story. He con'd everyone.
     Fast forward to the 2016 MR340 the end of July and that's when everything started to become unraveled for him and his true self came out. He was a different person than the Nate I had known. Edgy. Unpredictable. Distant. It didn't make sense.  Until the end of the race when he disappeared and I began to question everything.

   Seeking the truth came from speaking with Ron Abel, a legit military Veteran, and who was ground crew for the 100 mile paddle last year, and for Nate for the 340.  Nate admitted to Ron that his probation officer was calling Nate for the past week and Nate needed to come in and be booked.  The deep dark secret of Nate? Hes a convicted felon.  Which in itself is bad, but not all felons are bad people.  Many are able to make amends and move on in life and be good contributing citizens. However, In this case, he is a bad person.

 8/3/16 arrest 

   

  Following the Mr340 race when he returned home to Wisconsin he was picked  up and taken into custody for violation of probation. He was brought to jail where he currently is and will be for some time.

  Here's where it gets bad.  His original charge stems from a 2012 incident.  It's atrocious, but he was charged with first degree sexual incest of a minor. She was 6 years old.  He plead down to recklessly endangering safety. which as you read below is still a felony by law. In life there's a special hell for people like this.  Which in prison, he will live once the other inmates realize what he's there for. The  charges were reduced as he plead down.

original arrest in 2012

  It's extremely disturbing to find this out. Even more disturbing that I had this man sleep at my house several times over the years. I have a 6 year old and a 4year old that were present. Thankfully nothing happened to them or he would not have made it out of my house alive.  

   He had a 5 year sentence in 2012 from the case. He served a little over a year and received early release and the rest of the sentence to be spent on probation.

     I spent an hour on the phone with His probation officer this week.  He called me as part of an open investigation in Nate's case. He's also called others that were in contact with Nate. The violations of probation are as follows:

-can not leave the state 

      He traveled to NC, NY, CT, MO that we know of

-can not drink alcohol

    I've been with him while he was drinking. there's pictures on social media.

-can not sleep over others houses at all. No sleepovers with kids or women especially

violated it with me and as recently as 2-3 weeks ago with his girlfriend and her daughter and friends. The girlfriend had no clue.

- No smartphones

   definitely has one and has used it

-has to hold a job. was fired from his a few months back. didn't tell probation

and i'm sure there's more.  This is what the Probation officer mentioned

  If that wasn't bad enough, there's more.  Nate sold us all on the fact that he was a military vet with 8 years service.  He told the story of how he was a sniper and was on the watch list as he killed so many people while serving in operation iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. He also sold us on that his humvee blew up while all his brothers in arms in the vehicle died and him being the only survivor. He labeled himelf as a military vet with ptsd and needing a service dog to get trough life.

   The hard facts are he did serve in the military, but for less than a year. He was set for deployment but pussed out. He convinced a doctor he had sleep walking habits and mental illness. A easy out.  He never was deployed. Never saw action.  Doesn't have ptsd. Didn't lose his brothers in a humvee. Didn't kill people as a sniper.  

    His devious mind as a pathological liar went as far as adopting a dog (BO) and labeling him as a service dog to sell the vet with ptsd look. He paid $75 online to get a therapy dog certification.  He even got a tattoo on his arm that had his "fallen" brothers' dog tags. His family, when asked about the tattoo said it didn't make sense. They even  questioned it. It was all a con. He did all these things to try and portray the image of a vet with ptsd.  It was nothing more than STOLEN VALOR!  Which to me is as disgusting as him being a incestual pedophile that he is. 

  My grandfather served in WWII and my brother served in operation desert storm. I know them as military heroes. They know themselves as just citizens doing their country duty. That's how real military handle themselves. They're proud to have served, ask for nothing in return, and seldom talk about their service.

   The organization "Proudly We Stand" he created was for him to raise money for vets with PTSD. The concept to me was great and I was happy to contribute both financially and emotionally.  I consulted him on the 100 mile paddle, made a documentary, and helped fund it. I want to make it very clear that I had no hand in this organization other than supporting it. Neither did Ron Abel.  We were merely 2 people trying to help another for  what we thought was a good cause. We even helped Nate raise over $7k for companions for heroes, an organization to help vets get dogs.  Sadly, I recently found out he pocketed the money and never gave them a cent. I apologize to all that donated to him. I had no idea this was the case. I donated to the org as well.

  Currently the case has been turned over to the wauwautosa police and he will be pursued for theft, grand larceny possibly. This should add to the current 5 years jail he is already looking at.  It won't replace the money he stole but he won't get to use it where he's going.

   Amongst the other lies he told me, his wife died of cancer years ago and his 2 kids are from a stripper he dated after college.  All a lie. She is alive and was smart enough to leave him 14 years ago. She leads a great life with her own family.  His second "relationship"  had the kids with him which ended in 2012 with the above incest charge. The kids are happy, healthy and great people.

  I have heard all sorts of variations of lies he has told others. Trust me, none of his BS is true. The probation officer confirmed he is a pathological liar.

     Going forward the people that were affected most have been a great support system.  I've taken this atrocity pretty harshly as I  attached my name on his events. However, Although Nate destroyed a lot of faith in humanity and betrayed us all. However, some good came out of it. I gained friends out of this that are good people. I keep up with Ron Abel from Wisconsin, he's a great guy, true military vet, and part of my team now. We talk weekly.  Brenda Herndon, out of KC. ground crewed for the mr340 and is in the same boat as Ron. Great friend and is running ground support for a 230 mi race i'm doing in the fall.  Dave Schultz, Deb Klapperich, and host of other Midwest paddlers were introduced to me through Nate.  So essentially I had to weed through the shit of Nate to find the candy corn surprises of friends.  I am most grateful for them and wouldn't trade them for anything.  

  I know I can't fix things or change how it happened, but I am working on repairing what has been done. We are working with the family of Nate and are planning to sell the Hobie custom sup he has and give the money to companions for heroes. Also I will be putting together a paddle in the spring to raise money for the charity.  I'll do it on lake Geneva and it will be open to all paddlers. 

I am very sorry how everything played out. But be certain of this, Nate Dub aka Nate Waldera is in jail and will be for quite some time, 5+ years.  He will never be welcomed in our circle again. The sup family is a strong and loving one. We will overcome what's happened and will remain a family and push forward.