In Principi, Veterans Have Leader Who Will ‘Keep Faith With Them’

The ceremony could have been one of those routine government occasions. But Anthony J. Principi, a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam, wanted a setting that reinforced the importance of the issue involved.

And so a ceremony to thank private-sector employers who responded to a hire-a-vet campaign took place on the aircraft carrier Independence in San Diego Bay, the West Coast home of the Navy.

In a tone heavy with emotion, Principi, then-deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, told 400-plus people on the deck of the mighty warship that the nation can never ignore its debt to its military veterans.

“Our history today is what it is because those young Americans kept faith with their country,” Principi said that spring day in 1989. “It’s now up to us to keep faith with them.”

Principi left government at the end of the administration of President Bush, but his concern for veterans did not end. Two years ago, he served as chairman of a nonpartisan commission that found many veterans benefits and services outdated, ineffective or wasteful.

Now, Principi, 56, who has strong ties to this Navy and Marine Corps town, will have the chance to take the lead in implementing the 100-plus recommendations made by the commission.

On Friday, Principi was named by President-elect George W. Bush as secretary of Veterans Affairs, heading a $41-billion-a-year, 219,000-employee agency entrusted with providing medical care and other services to 27 million veterans. The department is second in size only to the Department of Defense.

Principi, who lives in Rancho Santa Fe and who headed a veterans-for-Bush committee in California, comes with strong backing from veterans organizations and retired military brass, many of whom believe that the VA has suffered under the Clinton administration.

“Tony is no shrinking violet. He’ll tell it like it is and do what’s right, with wisdom and forethought,” said retired Marine Corps Gen. and Commandant Charles Krulak, who recommended Principi for the post. “The care of veterans over the years has slowly and surely degraded, and at the same time there’s been a growth in bureaucracy. Tony’s appointment is a powerful sign that this administration wants to take care of veterans.”

Principi, born in the Bronx, was a football star at a Roman Catholic high school, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1967 and served in Vietnam as commanding officer of a river patrol force in the Mekong Delta, earning a Bronze Star, with a “V” for valor, and other decorations.

He graduated from Seton Hall University Law School in 1975 and returned to active duty in the Navy in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, assigned to prosecute and defend military personnel. Transferred to Washington, he was legislative counsel for the Department of the Navy.

After leaving the Navy, he served in a variety of high-level Washington jobs, including staff director of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, staff director and chief counsel to the Senate Armed Services Committee and deputy administrator for congressional and public affairs for the VA.

During the final months of the earlier Bush administration, he was acting secretary of the department. He called for greater concern for the illnesses suffered by Persian Gulf War veterans and expressed frustration at bureaucratic red tape and infighting.

“He’s a good manager, he understands government, and he can handle people,” said former Rep. G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery (D-Miss.). “It’s not going to be an easy job. But Tony knows the programs, he’ll work hard and he’ll be fair to the veterans.”

Like many Navy families, the Principis spent several stretches in San Diego, leaving for assignments elsewhere.

From 1992 to 1994, he was a partner at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, one of San Diego’s blue-chip law firms. He later worked as a real estate broker and is currently president of QTC Medical Services Inc. in Diamond Bar.

“He’s very quiet, but he’s very ‘take charge’ at the same time,” said San Diego attorney Terry Bingman. “He can get people to follow him without a lot of shouting.”

Principi’s father, Antonio, was an Italian immigrant from Argentina. He owned an electrical supply firm in Harlem and served as an enlisted man in the Navy during World War II.

Principi and his wife, Elizabeth Ann, a retired Navy lawyer, married in 1971 and have three children: Air Force Capt. Anthony Principi, 27, stationed in England; Air Force Lt. Ryan Principi, 24, stationed in Oklahoma; and John, 22, a film major and lacrosse player at UC Berkeley.

The Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance, with Principi as chairman, criticized the government’s home loan, medical care, job training and saving plans for veterans. It called for boosting reenlistment bonuses and combining the VA and Department of Defense medical programs, among other things.

For hobbies, Principi lists skiing and landscaping. The family plans to sell its home in Rancho Santa Fe.

“Our mother is so proud, she’s been crying all day,” said Principi’s sister Nancy Scull, a San Diego lawyer.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Profile: Anthony J. Principi

* Born: April 16, 1944

* Education: Undergraduate degree, U.S. Naval Academy, 1967; law degree, Seton Hall University Law School, 1975

* Career highlights: President, QTC Medical Services Inc.; Veterans Affairs acting secretary, 1992-93; VA first deputy secretary, 1989-92; Republican chief counsel, staff director of Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, 1984-88; majority chief counsel, staff director for Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), 1984-86; VA deputy administrator, 1983-84; U.S. Navy, 1967-80

* Family: Wife, Elizabeth Ann; 3 sons

* Quote: “America now reaps the fruit of the service of 24 million veterans. However, their service imposes upon us a reciprocal obligation. . . . I know of no mission more worthwhile than serving the men and women who have so honorably served their nation.”

Source: Associated Press