[Tallguy]

JFK’s ‘advisors’ were leading South Vietnamese troops in battle. Every significant ARVN military unit was nominally commanded by a South Vietnamese officer, but actually led by US officers many of whom were killed or wounded.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac

[Eric in the Ozarks]

My dad was an Army procurement officer in Japan in the 1950s and scouted potential paper mill locations in VN, Laos and the Philippines. Almost always accompanied by a major or above.