Boy on the Bridge

"In 2007, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Shalikashvili (1919-2011) penned an op-ed published in the New York Times calling for the United States to reverse its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy and support full recognition of LGBT Americans in the military. He followed up with a similar editorial in a 2009 issue of the Washington Post. The policy was reversed July 22, 2011, the day before the General's death. Many Americans may have been startled to see this support from a high-ranking military figure, but Shalikashvili's friends and colleagues were not surprised. "Shali," as he was known, had spent his life battling prejudice and oppression. In The Boy on the Bridge, Andrew Marble writes the first biography of this remarkable warrior and diplomat. Not only was Shalikashvili the first foreign-born person to be appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he was the first draftee, one of only two enlisted men, and only Officer Candidate School graduate. He grew up in Germany during World War II, emigrated to the United States with his family in 1952, and settled in Peoria, Illinois. Marble explores Shalikashvili's unusual background and family history to discover how Shalikashvili the soldier mastered the art of command and how Shaliskashvili the man developed as a human being to become a consummate, empathetic diplomat and leader. He helped guide the US and Europe through the chaos of the break-up of the Soviet Union and worked with Russia during this period to secure "loose nukes." He worked closely with fellow immigrant Madeleine Albright on The Partnership for Peace initiatives and NATO enlargement programs of the 1990s that allowed former Soviet satellites and republics to build ties with and eventually join NATO"--