I had the honor of meeting GEN Shalikashvili back when he was the Chairman and I was a young captain. I was in Slovakia at the time on a military liaison team, and he and Madeline Albright rolled into town. We helped the embassy with the arrangements, so we were at the location where he was meeting the Slovak military leaders. He saw us from across the room, and made his whole entourage take a detour so he could walk over and meet the team. He was very friendly, and made time for us to take photos with him. Actually, we all got two pics each with him, as he made an excuse for the second picture with each individual but we realized he did that just in case the first photo didn't turn out (fuzzy, someone had their eyes closed, etc). Then he handed us each on of his coins.Former Chairman GEN Shalikashvili Dies
Retired General John Shalikashvili, an immigrant who rose to the position of Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1990s, has died. He was 75.
In a statement Saturday, President Barack Obama praised Shalikashvili as "a genuine soldier-statesman whose extraordinary life represented the promise of America" for those who choose to serve it.
His cause of death was not immediately available.
Shalikashvili was born in Poland of Georgian parents. He came to the United States as a teen-ager, learned English from John Wayne movies and rose to become the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military.
Shalikashvili served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997, heading the U.S. role in NATO air strikes on Bosnian Serb military targets in 1995.
"As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he strengthened our alliances in Europe and in Asia, forged closer defense ties with Russia, and championed the Partnership for Peace with the former Soviet states," President Obama said.
Shalikashvili succeeded Gen. Colin Powell as chairman of the joint chiefs. Born in Warsaw in 1936 shortly before World War Two, he fled to Germany in a cattle car in 1944 ahead of the Soviet advance.
After retiring from the military, he served as a visiting professor at Stanford and Harvard Universities and publicly endorsed Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts in Kerry's losing 2004 presidential campaign.
Shalikashvili, who also served as a director of the Boeing Co. , survived a massive stroke in 2004 at his home near Fort Lewis, Washington, next to Tacoma.
Considering the number of people he had waiting on him, I was very impressed that he took a few minutes to meet with a couple of US military personnel who were there.
Godspeed, GEN Shali!
atriot:
