Coral Wong Pietsch

Coral Wong Pietsch (born November 11, 1947) is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. She is a former brigadier general in the United States Army Reserve. In 2001 she became the first female general officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, and the first Asian-American woman to reach general officer rank in the United States Army.^[6][7][8]

Coral Wong Pietsch
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Incumbent
Assumed office June 28, 2012
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	William P. Greene Jr.
Personal details
Born	Coral Wong (1947-11-11) November 11, 1947 (age 77) Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
Spouse	James Pietsch ​ (m. 1972)​ [1]
Education	College of Saint Teresa Marquette University Catholic University of America
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1974–2007[2][3]
Rank	Brigadier General
Unit	Army Judge Advocate General's Corps United States Army Reserve
Battles/wars	Iraq War[4][5]
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit

Biography

Pietsch was born in Waterloo, Iowa, to a Chinese immigrant father from Canton, China, who had come to the United States to start a Chinese restaurant,^[2] and a Czech American mother.^[9] After earning a bachelor's degree in theatre from the College of Saint Teresa, and later a master's degree in drama from Marquette University, she went on to attend the Catholic University of America for law school, graduating in 1974. There she would meet her future husband, an army officer who was also attending to become a lawyer.^[2]

Commissioned into the Judge Advocate General's 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.,^[2] and Iraq.^[4] She was a chair commissioner of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, with her term expiring while deployed.^[10] In 2001 she became the first female general officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, and the first Asian-American woman to reach the rank of general in the United States Army.^[6]

On November 1, 2011, President Obama nominated her to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims as his replacement for Judge William P. Greene, who had reached the end of his 15-year term.^[11] She was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 2012.

Recognition

2017 – BG Coral Wong Pietsch was inducted into the U.S. Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame.^[12]