Coral Wong Pietsch

Coral Wong Pietsch
BG Pietsch in Judge's robe
Born	Waterloo, Iowa
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	USAR/JAG
Years of service	1974[1]-2007[2]
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	Operation Iraqi Freedom[3]

Coral Wong Pietsch (Chinese: 珊瑚黄皮茨奇; Pinyin: Shānhú Huáng Pí Cí Qí) was a Brigadier General in the United States Army Reserve. She was also the first Asian American woman to reach the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Army.^[4]

Biography

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, to a Chinese immigrant father from Canton, China who had come to the United States to start an Chinese restaurant,^[1] and a Czech American mother, she grew up feeling different than her peers during the height of the Cold War, often being mocked for her Asian half of her ethnicity.^[5] Initially earning a bachelor's degree in theatre, and later a master's degree in drama, she went on to attend The Catholic University of America to attend law school. There she would meet her future husband, an army officer who was also attending to become a lawyer.^[1]

Commissioned into the Judge Advocate General Corps in 1974, she was assigned to Eighth Army in Korea then to Fort Shafter, Hawaii, completing her active duty requirement, and transferring to the Army Reserves. After active duty, she settled down and began to reside in Hawaii with her husband and became a civilian attorney for U.S. Army Pacific. While a reservist she had been deployed to Johnston Atoll, Japan, the Philippines, Washington D.C.,^[1] and Iraq.^[3] She was a chair commissioner of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, with her term expiring while deployed.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} LTC Randy Pullen (April 24, 2001). "Waterloo to Washington: The Long Journey of Coral Wong Pietsch". American Forces Press Service. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44948. Retrieved 15OCT09. 
2. ^ Lisa Carroll (March 2009). "Six* Stars: CUA to Honor Outstanding Alumni". Office of Public Affairs. The Catholic University of America. http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/cuamag/spr09/features/feature3.html. Retrieved October 15, 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Harassment rule changes postponed". Pacific Business News. August 6, 2007. http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2007/08/06/daily14.html. Retrieved October 15, 2009. 
4. ^ Gregg K. Kakesako (May 15, 2009). "Army Reserve in Pacific gets first female leader". Honolulu Star Bulletin. http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090515_Army_Reserve_in_Pacific_gets_first_female_leader.html. Retrieved October 15, 2009. "Compton follows Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Coral Wong Pietsch, who became the first Asian/Pacific-American female general and first female chief judge in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps in 2000."  and
   LTC Randy Pullen (September 1, 2001). "Army Reservist Achieves Two Notable Firsts". The Officer. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10272807_ITM. Retrieved October 15, 2009. 
5. ^ Jeremy Craig (May 20, 2005). "Pioneer speaks at Fort Gordon". Augusta Chronicle. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/052105/met_4205747.shtml. Retrieved October 15, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Hawaii Civil Rights Commission - About the Commissioners", URL accessed 08/23/06

United States Army portal

Persondata
Name	Pietch, Coral Wong
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Waterloo, Iowa
Date of death
Place of death