Colleagues: At the National Security Forum session last week, General John Abizaid and I had a good time at the outset of the session joshing each other regarding the rivalry between Coleville, where he was an all-sports star, and Virginia City– where my father’s family hails from. Although John enjoys jabbing those of us who lean toward the “Muckers”, I would like to note that the General asked if we would, instead of offering him an honorarium, send that check to the 4th Ward School Museum up in Virginia City– now that’s class!
On that, I thought you might like to read a piece I wrote about John and Kathy Abizaid a few year back.
WELCOME HOME JOHN AND KATHY ABIZAID
Some may wonder why a prominent 4-star General chose to retire here in northern Nevada, instead of hanging out at the Washington, D.C., Army-Navy Club, criticizing all those who followed him and drinking mint juleps by the pool.
That’s probably because John and Kathy Abizaid have had long roots here in the eastern Sierras, where they grew up, attended high school together in Coleville, and participated in numerous athletic contests in the small school Western Nevada leagues (Coleville is just across the border in California, but their teams have always played in the Nevada leagues).
Their roots in the eastern Sierras led them to settle down in Gardnerville, where they reside in a lovely home amidst the sagebrush, wildcats, coyotes and gun-totting’ neighbors (“Shades of Iraq! Everyone carries their own weapon, and they all don’t care much for the federal government intruding in their lives!” the General quips.
John Abizaid commanded the US Central Command, overseeing military operations in 21 countries stretching from Somalia to India. During a distinguished career he commanded at every level, serving in combat zones in Grenada, Lebanon, Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the few generals of Arab descent, John speaks Arabic, learned not at home but from the Army, and holds a Masters degree from Harvard.
The General jokes that while he saw intense combat in a number of those areas, “nothing compared to playing basketball for Coleville High, and having to come to Virginia City to face Lyle Damon’s Muckers!” He adds that, “Our mortal enemy in basketball was Virginia City. At one opening game in 1967, the contest dissolved into a brawl on the floor. We lost the game…but won the fight”, he proudly exclaims.
Abizaid’s best sports were football and track. In his first two years, Coleville played 6-man football in the small school western Nevada league against the likes of Gabbs, Owyhee, Carlin and Gerlach. In his junior and senior years, the league was converted to 8-man ball. John was named to the Nevada all-state team in 1967 and 1968 as a running back and linebacker. He also ran track competitively, specializing in the 220 and 440.
When Coleville won the state championship, they wore patches on their jackets shaped like the Silver State, which he says was appropriate since he and his teammates always thought of themselves as honorary Nevadans.
Basketball was not his sport—he usually helped warm the bench, he adds modestly, but joined the frays that often broke out when playing Virginia City. “That was the original VC I met and hated, well before the Vietnam conflict grew”. On Damon, he adds, “we were convinced that Damon was a KGB agent, skillfully recruiting 25 year old 7-footers out of Los Angeles, and giving them names like Gladding, Hess, and Del Carlo. They couldn’t have grown up on the Hill!” On the other hand, “We, in Coleville, represented truth, justice and the American way”.
His patient and loving wife of 35 years, Kathy, was his high school sweetheart, who was bussed down every day from her home in Bridgeport. “She had three choices—marry a Marine from Pickle Meadows, marry a cousin since she was related to just about everybody in Bridgeport, or marry me! Fortunately she chose the latter–at least fortunate for me”.
John’s mom passed away in 1962 and his dad, a disabled veteran who was quite ill, moved John and his sister to Coleville in 1964. John worked on a sheep ranch in Topaz, as a janitor at Coleville High School, and as a US Forest Service fire crew member. The family lived in humble circumstances.
Who would have thought that this young man with roots in the eastern Sierras, would graduate from West Point, serve in numerous positions with high responsibilities and ultimately lead the United States Central Command. And, after all that, to return to his roots here in northern Nevada.
Welcome home, John and Kathy, from a grateful nation.
—Tyrus W. Cobb