The Foreign Service Journal, January 2012

O n Thursday,Nov. 3,AFSA had the privilege of celebrating the conferral of a Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors, on retired Foreign Service officer James Iso. Mr. Iso, 87, servedwith theMilitary Intelligence Serv- ice during World War II, and is a former employee of the De- fense IntelligenceAgency and anAFSAmember. The reception, held at the association’s headquarters, included members of his family, current Foreign Agricultural Service leadership, former FAS colleagues, Governing Board members and AFSA staff. A little more than two months after the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii, President FranklinDelano Roosevelt signed Ex- ecutive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, setting in motion the es- tablishment of internment camps for Japanese-Americans and those of Japanese ancestry living on the Pacific coast of the United States. These camps were operated by various govern- ment agencies, including the Department of Justice, the U.S. Army and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. That year, James Iso and his parents were taken from their home in San Jose, Calif., and placed in an internment camp in Heart Mountain, Wyo. They were among more than 110,000 individuals —approximately 62 percent of themAmerican cit- izens — imprisoned in camps scattered around the country. After leaving Heart Mountain in 1944, James Iso joined the Military Intelligence Service to “prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my patriotism.” His brother, Robert Iso, drafted by the U.S. Army before the war, served with the distinguished 442nd Reg- imental Combat Team, for which he, too, received a Congressional Gold Medal. Despite incarceration and prej- udice, Nisei (second-generation Japanese-Americans) proved to be not only fierce and heroic fighters, but brilliant cryptographers and translators credited with shortening the war in the Pacific by two years. Their vital work resulted in U.S. military successes in the region, leading President Harry Truman to call the Japanese-Americans in the MIS the “human secret weapon for the U.S. Armed Forces” against the Japanese in the Pacific. Proudly displaying his medal to the gathering, James Iso re- marked, “We had to show our love for this country. We were all young and vigorous and inspired to do the best we could.” That they did. E very year, I eagerly await the issue of the Foreign Service Journal that announces the winners of the annual dissent awards. And every year, when the call for nominations goes out, I consider which of my colleagues I can nominate. I was gratified back in 2010 when Ambassador Tony Holmes, the deputy political adviser for civil-military affairs at the U.S. Africa Command, told me that he had nominated me for AFSA’s William Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent. And I was thrilled when the letter arrived announcing that I had won. I amknown for my frankness; somemight even call it lack of tact. I prefer to consider myself honest and not afraid to speak the truth. But this has gotten me into hot water over the years. Early in my career at the United States Agency for International Development, I was admonished a few times for being too blunt with my local counterparts. I have ruffled the feathers of a few American colleagues along the way, as well, by not enthusiasti- J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 47 American Foreign Service Association • January 2012 AFSA NEWS Dissent = Effective Advocacy BY DIANA B. PUTMAN Continued on page 59 (L to R) John Beshoar, FAS retiree; Jim Higgiston, FAS deputy administra- tor, Office of FS Operations; Richard Barnes, FAS retiree; James Iso, FAS and DIA retiree; Richard Passig, FAS retiree; Suzanne Heinen, FAS acting administrator; Janet Nuzum, FAS associate administrator for policy; and David Mergen, AFSA VP for FAS. PHOTOS BY DONNA AYERST James Iso proudly displays his Congressional Gold Medal. Retired FSO Receives Congressional Gold Medal BY DONNA AYERST