Gen Shinseki named Veterans Affairs Secretary

December 7, 2008

barry has a Sunday press conference to name 4-star Gen. Eric K. Shinseki (retired) to be the next Veterans Affairs Secretary. Why today? It is the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Gen Shinseki, of Japanese-American ancestry is the highest ranking Asian American military personnel in US history.

Shinseki, 66, US Army Chief of Staff 1999-2003
US Army Commanding general, Europe 1997-98
West Point graduate
Purple Heart and Bronze Star among others
Wounded in Vietnam losing part of his foot

Most notably he spoke out against Rumsfield saying hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed in Iraq to stabilize it. He retired 4 months later and was snubbed because of his outspokeness. He was vindicated when the Surge as barry finally admitted "worked beyond our wildest dreams". Wonder if barry still stands by his position that the Surge was the wrong idea...maybe he's changed it by now.

Shinseki was born in Hawaii in 1942 and is the third Asian to be named to a cabinet position. I wonder if he and his family were sent to an internment camp during WWII, and if so, what his feelings are on the anniversary.

On another note, Ahn "Joseph" Coa (LA-R) beat out indicted incumbent William Jefferson to become the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. He immigrated to the US from Vietnam in 1975 and although an immigration attorney for "boat people" he has no political experience. Louisiana has a large population of Vietnamese-Americans, especially New Orleans, who have fought hard to rebuild after Katrina. Coa's dad spent seven years in an NVA prison camp and is confined to a wheelchair. I wonder what went through his mind listening to his son make his victory speech. As barry says, nowhere else in the world would this story be possible.