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A fact from James William Lair appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 12 November 2014 ( check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that CIA case officer James William Lair recruited Vang Pao, and they founded a covert 30,000-man guerrilla army? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2014/November. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/James William Lair.

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The article does not mention any specific connection between the subject and Oklahoma. Why does it appear in the WP:Oklahoma list? If there is no connection, then I recommend removing it from WP:Oklahoma. Bruin2 ( talk) 18:45, 5 October 2017 (UTC) reply

• Done. Georgejdorner ( talk) 05:38, 20 October 2017 (UTC) reply
  • Guess Bruin did not notice Lair's birthplace. But that's the only Oklahoma connection. Georgejdorner ( talk) 05:10, 29 December 2017 (UTC) reply

For those who would object to the present use of this term...an article on L'Armée Clandestine is in progress. As it was/is a Top Secret operation, gathering information for the article is slow and tedious. Please bear with me. Georgejdorner ( talk) 05:22, 29 December 2017 (UTC) reply

In regard the loss of Lima Site 85, which Lair predicted, the article states:

"The accuracy of his estimate burnished his reputation in the agency."

This is immediately followed by the "Departure from Laos" section, which begins:

"At odds with both his station chief and Ambassador Sullivan, tagged with the loss of Lima Site 85, and diminished by the expanding American operations of the Laotian war, Bill Lair departed Laos in August 1968."

"Burnished" seems like the wrong word here: it means "gained luster, made to shine, admirable".

And yet Lair was at odds with his station chief and the Ambassador, tagged with the loss of Lima Site 85, diminished, etc. -- not at all burnished, quite the opposite.

Perhaps the right word is "tarnished"?

On the other hand, maybe his reputation truly was burnished, and he was driven out despite the burnishing, or because of it. In any case, this passage could be improved.

Karl gregory jones ( talk) 11:14, 23 January 2020 (UTC) reply

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• James Williams Lair (Bill Lair).jpg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 08:24, 19 April 2023 (UTC) reply

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• James Williams Lair (Bill Lair).jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 16:53, 19 April 2023 (UTC) reply