Fort Belvoir, Va. (May 22, 2014) - The U.S. Army Legal Services Agency hosted an Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month observance May 15.
The theme of the event was "Diversity in Leadership."
The Honorable Coral Wong Pietsch, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and a retired brigadier general from the Judge Advocate General Corps, shared her story during the event.
Pietsch was the first woman of Asian heritage to be promoted to general officer in the Army and the first female general officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps.
During the ceremony, Pietsch shared photos of her life, starting with her childhood in Iowa, growing up with a Chinese father and Czech mother. Her father started a Chinese restaurant, and her mother met him while working there.
Pietsch remembered attending a Catholic school as a young girl, where one of the nuns made fun of her last name, "Wong."
At that time, cultural differences were not valued as they are today, she said.
She met her husband at law school, where they were both recruited into the Army JAG Corps.
After six years on active duty, Pietsch joined the U.S. Army Reserves and continued to serve as an Army civilian.
"The Army kind of nurtured me," she said. "It just raised me into somebody that I feel is trying to make a contribution."
During the surge in Iraq in 2007, Pietsch volunteered to deploy as the deputy rule of law coordinator for the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team. While in Iraq, she helped the Baghdad Law School dean to rebuild the school's library, after it was looted when Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
During her legal career, Pietsch served as chief judge (individual mobilization augmentee) on the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. Before President Obama appointed her to the bench in 2012, she served as a senior civilian attorney for United States Army Pacific in Hawaii.
While she has served the nation for more than 30 years, and been praised for her sacrifices, Pietsch said she is still inspired by what her father did when he left China for America to build a better life.
"My father used to say, 'You have to be better than me,'" she said. "My father did something I'll never have to do -- leave the country of my birth in search of a better life."
Pietsch said if listeners took one thing from her remarks, she hoped they learned to remember their past and value others for their differences.
"Don't forget where you came from," she said. "Always treat people with dignity and respect -- I think those will get you through life."
Recently, USALSA has had a running series of JAG Corps leaders visit as guest speakers, said Capt. Carl Moore, USALSA government appellate attorney, who coordinated the event.
Pietsch was a perfect fit for the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month ceremony because of her heritage and her history with the JAG Corps, he said.
"She's definitely a living legal luminary," he said. "It just brings a lot of different perspectives … and recognizes diversity."
Maj. Kari Hadley, USALSA Environmental Law Division, said she enjoyed hearing Pietsch's story because it provided a personal perspective.
"It's really unique to have presentations where the presenter talks about their actual personal history, because it shows the real connection between what we do and who we are and where we come from," she said.
"The big takeaway I got was when you have a dream and you want to achieve it, you just need to set your goals and there might be setbacks or whatnot, but you just keep marching," she added.
For more information about Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, visit http://asian pacificheritage.gov/about.html.
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