Edgar 'Pop' Buell was a farmer from Steuben County, Indiana, but following the death of his wife in 1958 he joined the International Voluntary Services, a precursor to the Peace Corps, which offered him a job as an agricultural adviser in Laos. Buell worked in Laos through the Laotian Civil War, organizing relief aid to refugees and isolated villages, before he was forced to flee Laos in the mid-1970s.

He is widely regarded as having been the CIA's main contact with the Hmong anti-communist forces during the Laos 'Secret War' (1964-1973).

Vang Pao (Hmong: Vaj Pov