Robert S. McNamara - KIA

The former Secretary of Defense shocked many Vietnam Vets, myself included, in 1995 when he confessed he knew the war could not be won while he was still in the Pentagon. The NY Times Howell Raines wrote at the time: “Surely he must in every quiet and prosperous moment hear the ceaseless whispers of those poor boys in the infantry, dying in the tall grass, platoon by platoon, for no purpose. What he took from them cannot be repaid by prime-time apology and stale tears, three decades late.” McNamara never found peace from the ghosts of the war, but he lived a long life. Certainly much longer than the 16,000 who died during the years that he ran it, some of whom who would be alive today if he had spoken the truth.