This American military advisor, who achieved outstanding tactical results in the field, retired from the Army and then returned to Vietnam in 1965 as a civilian advisor.
American military advisor John Paul Vann achieved outstanding tactical results in the field, but retired from the Army, returning to Vietnam in 1965 as a civilian advisor. In 1963 Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the advisor to the ARVN 7th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel Huynh Van Cao. Despite Vann?s success in the field, he alienated Cao and the military-political rulers in Saigon. Reassigned to the Pentagon after his advisory tour, Vann decided that his experience in Vietnam would cost him further promotion, and he retired from the Army. After a stint in the private sector, Vann returned to Vietnam in 1965 as a pacification representative for the Agency of International Development (AID). Vann eventually rose to the level of senior advisor for the Central Highlands, a position that gave him authority over all U.S. military forces in the region. The authority was equivalent to that of a major general. As principal advisor for an ARVN general who commanded 158,000 troops in the region, he was one of the most influential Americans in Vietnam, after the ambassador and the commanding general of MACV. On June 9, 1972, Vann was killed in a helicopter accident in South Vietnam. He posthumously was awarded the highest American civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
