Guest blogged by our friend, bubbabobcat:
General Eric K. Shinseki who is a West Point graduate, Vietnam War
combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, rose through the ranks to
become the Army Chief of staff in 1999 and is the highest ranking Asian
American in the US military. He spoke his mind
bluntly at obvious political and professional risk to do what was best
for his country and his soldiers. And most famously in the run up to
the Iraq war in 2003, Gen. Shinseki presciently testified to Congress
that the war plans were inadequate and undermanned
to maintain stability and peace in Iraq after the initial invasion. For
his efforts, he was immediately publicly and embarrassingly rebuked by
his civilian superiors, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and
Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz (who by the way, never
served in the military and received deferments from the draft). With
his authority emasculated and his shining career of public service
effectively ruined, he nobly served out the rest of his term, retired
in obscurity and faded in to the background in private
service.
In honor of Veterans Day,
I would like to acknowledge a soldier and an American who represents
the best in us through and through despite the trials and tribulations
bestowed upon him by his fellow fallible man.
General Eric K. Shinseki who is a West Point graduate, Vietnam War
combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, rose through the ranks to
become the Army Chief of staff in 1999 and is the highest ranking Asian
American in the US military. He spoke his mind
bluntly at obvious political and professional risk to do what was best
for his country and his soldiers. And most famously in the run up to
the Iraq war in 2003, Gen. Shinseki presciently testified to Congress
that the war plans were inadequate and undermanned
to maintain stability and peace in Iraq after the initial invasion. For
his efforts, he was immediately publicly and embarrassingly rebuked by
his civilian superiors, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and
Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz (who by the way, never
served in the military and received deferments from the draft). With
his authority emasculated and his shining career of public service
effectively ruined, he nobly served out the rest of his term, retired
in obscurity and faded in to the background in private
service. However, even when unfairly humiliated and later vindicated, he
maintained his professionalism and "military bearing" in steadfastly to
this day refusing to criticize his Commander in Chief (George W. Bush)
both publicly and amazingly in private also.
Now, THAT is the epitome of a soldier who has maintained his honor and
integrity through thick and thin.
He is of course later vindicated throughout the horrendous
execution and "planning" of the Iraq War in the intervening years of
that never-ending quagmire, culminating in President Bush's
acknowledgement of his tactical error in announcing a remedial "surge"
strategy four years too late and thousands of unnecessary American,
coalition, and Iraqi lives lost. The additional soldiers that General
Shinseki was roundly criticized for years earlier, ultimately quells
the unrest that resulted from the chaos of a poorly
planned and executed war he did his best to fix from the outset.
As he has previously risen from the ashes like a phoenix after
what should have been a career ending combat injury to his foot in
Vietnam, he is back in the saddle again working tirelessly advocating
in support for the everyday soldier when he was appointed
by President Obama last year to head the Cabinet position of Department
of Veterans Affairs. He has already made headway in streamlining an
organization notorious for its endless bureaucracy and frustrating red
tape as far back as the Vietnam War era, even
keeping the office open on a Saturday to ensure benefits are paid
promptly to veterans. As he has been all through his military career,
even in "retirement" as a civilian he is still working relentlessly for
his soldiers' welfare and well being.
A true honorable American patriot in words and in his actions. I salute you, Sir.
Thank you tragicmagic for honoring your grandfather and sharing his story. We hear too little of the real heroes, no matter how "ordinary" their exploits in the military and in the civilian world.
My uncle served in the Navy in WWII and he's responsible for my being here as a US citizen as opposed to life as a dirt poor fisherman in some faroff podunk village. I hope that my service in some measure paid it forward and completed the circle for the opportunity my uncle and this country has afforded me.
And your grandfather and General Shinseki are better men and soldiers/sailors than me! I never missed an opportunity to criticize my Commander in Chief at the time, Ronald Reagan. And I haven't stopped since. ;-)
Good one, Bubba and a great story that we had forgotten.
Yes, Bubba, thank you. I did not know his story. He is a silent hero, and a good example of a man who puts his love for his country where his mouth is.
bubbabobcat, thank you for a great guest blog! Gen. Shinseki is by my definition an american hero and i respect his decision not to criticize bush. the general obviously took his oath solemnly, no doubt prepared to die for it as well as he lived by it. today i think of my grandpa george, a decorated WW2 naval veteran who died in the local VA hospital in 2006 at the age of 88. at the time of his death, grandpa was working with our church's food pantry, he drove his car real early to fiesta where they loaded the back of his car and trunk with bakery goods, breads, cookies, tortilas and the occasional left over cake. distribution was easy as our church had so many needing these bakery goods. grandpa took care of around 12 families per week, they'd patiently line up behind his car when he'd return from fiesta and get a bag of mexican cookies, sweet breads or loaves for an entire family. he would always make sure someone having a birthday would have something special for their day or their family's. some days people would eat some of the foods right around the car, talking to grandpa, exchanging ideas about something they had to offer him, like an oil change or some help with break pads. one day in july grandpa cleaned up the boxes and bags like usual and put them into the outside trash can. he stepped down on the trash to compact it, fell and broke his hip. for three days he refused to go, because my sister wanted to take him to st. lukes and he wanted to go to the VA where he'd gone for forty years. so we took him there, had the surgeons assess the hip surgery and rehab, but he became ill with a fever and short of breath. they brought in 10 doctors and before they gave up, they diagnosed him with TB. he had contracted on the ward and it would need comprehensive care. meanwhile the hip would have to wait. grandpa started his treatments, we were all tested and harassed by the city health dept but rec'd a clean bill of health. so they wrote down he had TB before coming in which we did not really believe because he was the picture of health, a man on the go keeping up with anyone in their 60's. but he was in great physical shape, still punched the training bag hanging in the garage, a daily habit he never shook off from his days as a boxer in the navy. but he died before ever having his hip replaced, because of complications of pneumonia and infection in the trach tube. but he did not have the death he deserved. with no living will or advanced directive, he could not make medical decisions, so they kept doing everything invasive and painful. he was not receiving pain medication because he could not speak to say he was in pain, but we saw it in his eyes, his tense muscles clenching and often he just squeezed his eyes shut. he held his rosary while watching the droning tv, and then wrote on the pad of paper, "my time to go". that day i had a flip out, went to the desk and demanded a pain doctor and a social worker. they sent a shrink to talk to me like i was crazy! but after seeing grandpa the shrink determined meds would ease his pain and hourly shots in the iv started. then grandpa started to relax, to unclench. we started telling him old stories about him, about us, and what our kids were up to. he was there july '05 to february '06, and he died the one night we thought he was resting enough for us to go and eat. we got the call right as food was being served. we ate, drank to grandpa and went back to see him for the last time. my grandpa's name was gonzalo viramontes, but everyone called him george. he was kind, compassionate, funny, never nervous around the kids and was a 24hr caregiver to his wife with dementia before he broke his hip. grandpa was born in california and despite so many people asking me if he was "legal" he was. his parents and grandparents had lived in port lavaca when IT was located in mexico, before texas "annexed" it. although they had to give up their farms to texas they were "allowed" to stay, learn english and work them as migrant workers. grandpa joined the navy because he was thrilled about going on a big ship, and boy did he ever! so today i thought a lot of my grandpa george and his sacrifice to america, a country he never really understood for taking his grandpa's farm but loved and protected nevertheless. he did say bush's "mission accomplished" was in poor taste, but only to us grandkids because he knew we were against the war. but he always cautioned us not to disrespect the commander in chief and i struggled with that request although i largely was able to comply. grandpa and grandma were democrats, and proud democrats at that. thank you for allowing me to honor their sacrifice, service and honor on this veterans day.
As I do as well! Thank you, bubba for a great blog.