John Paul Vann

Influential field operator in the Vietnam War, first as a United States Army advisor and lieutenant colonel, who later worked for the Agency for International Development in a role with the authority of a major general. While his public reason for resigning from the Army was indeed disagreement over U.S. policy and honesty, first evidenced at the Battle of Ap Bac, he had irregularities in his personal life that would have blocked his promotion to senior Army rank.