My friend, Eric Shinseki, resigned recently as head of the second largest agency in the U.S. government, behind only the Department of Defense. His resignation as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs was a sad inevitability as the forces who demanded
My friend, Eric Shinseki, resigned recently as head of the second largest agency in the U.S. government, behind only the Department of Defense.
His resignation as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs was a sad inevitability as the forces who demanded he step down were too much to overcome, even for a seasoned soldier who was asked, yet again, to respond with perseverance, courage and sacrifice.
He was vilified by politicians, the media, veterans groups and even those who claimed to know him well. So it was not unexpected when the president took the easy route to jettison the former Army hero, who deserved better from a White House that had pledged, as a priority, to transform the VA. With virtually no support, Eric Shinseki was done, summarily and unfairly dismissed from a calling he had lived by as a soldier and statesman for half a century – serving his country.
Eric’s resignation was a blow to many; it was personally shattering for me, though it shouldn’t have been, certainly after knowing him for 67 years – from kindergarten to Lihue School, from summer camps to Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts we enjoyed, and then through Kauai high and beyond.
I knew Eric was never a quitter, and he isn’t one today. And I wanted readers to know that the real Eric Shinseki is not the one portrayed in negative news articles and television reports we’ve all seen in the past few weeks.
Eric left for the Mainland and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1960 after 18 years on Kauai. With him he brought a culture of trust, reliability and civility – qualities that he never lost. So when the time came to stand up to the controversies resulting from an avalanche of policy handcuffs already in place at the bureaucratic VA, he did so like a soldier and a professional, without bitterness and criticism of others. Eric was ready, again, to sacrifice for his country.
He was always a straight-up guy and a person of depth and integrity, even as a youngster. Eric was polite and never participated in pranks or tricks on others, yet was always considered one of the guys.
As Hawaii’s favorite son on the level of the late Dan Inouye, who served in the U.S. Senate for 49 years, many felt that Eric, the most decorated Asian-American soldier in U.S. history, would someday return home to succeed the beloved senator.
Eric was destined to be the leader he became. He was president of our high school student body, an honor student and, more importantly, someone everyone wanted to follow. As a student leader, he was already beginning to hone skills he was to use successfully in his professional life. He never pounded the table, spoke loudly or threatened others. He just never subscribed to the badgering manner that some said was needed in the VA. Eric was a consensus builder before he made decisions, and his way served him well throughout his career.
Of the 169 graduating seniors in our 1960 class at Kauai High School, some 30 went into the armed services, and Eric was very aware of every one of them who went on to serve their country. After graduation at West Point, he was off to Vietnam himself, where his two tours of duty resulted in sacrifices any veteran can only respect and venerate. He lost part of a foot and then nearly an eye in frontline battle. For his Vietnam service, Eric received three bronze stars for valor and a purple heart with an oak leaf cluster. For him, it was all part of the sacrifice that he and his high school sweetheart, wife Patty, had signed on for.
He returned home physically broken, but far from defeated as a soldier. And for months in Tripler’s military hospital in Honolulu, Eric fought hard to put himself back together again with Patty’s endearing patience and encouragement. For one who had to learn to walk and see clearly again over many months in a hospital, charges of his insensitivity to the plight of America’s vets today is undeserved.
Tough as things had become for Eric, he felt his sacrifice was a small consolation to all proud Japanese-Americans who had to suffer the indignity of being sent away to internment camps in California, Arizona, Wyoming and elsewhere during the war.
Country and honor were always part of Eric’s upbringing as he learned of uncles who volunteered to serve in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe. They established the standard of sacrifice Eric inherited. His inner strength and discipline, coupled with his friendliness and compassion, helped more and more to define him as a soldier and a leader. And his will enabled him to battle back to become commander in chief of the U.S. Army forces in Europe and commander of the land forces in Central Europe as well as commander of the NATO stabilization force in Bosnia-Herzagovina.
After nearly four decades in the Army, rising to the rank of four-star general, Eric was promoted to Army Chief of Staff by President Clinton and served two distinguished terms. But even that time of service was interrupted by yet another call for sacrifice when his honest military assessment at a Congressional hearing countered that of then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. As an experienced wartime general, Eric testified – and history is in appropriate support of his early testimony – that considerably more troops into Iraq was necessary to normalize the country following its liberation from Saddam Hussein. The issue exploded in the national press, and Eric was virtually relegated to persona non grata status by Rumsfeld.
Today, the sacrifices for his country continues, and it should come as no surprise.
For all the years I have known Eric, he has been an incredible individual of trust and principle, an effective leader and a person who believes that integrity, honesty and honor ultimately proves one’s character. The Veterans Administration has lost a good man. For a lifetime of duty, service and sacrifices for our nation, Eric Ken Shinseki deserved more than a kick out the door.
Milt Valera
Chairman, National Notary Association and The National Notary Group
Chatsworth, Calif.
