Wayne Downing
War Hero
Commander of Special Operations forces who fought in Panama and Iraq before leading the War on Terror.
His early military career took him to Okinawa and, later, to Vietnam.
He did not remain in his counterterrorism post for very long.
He grew up in Peoria, Illinois and was the son of a World War II veteran.
He advocated an Iraqi-led uprising against Saddam Hussein that came to be known as the Downing Plan.