Hong le webb biography of william

During his military service, he received other awards and accolades, including the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. Later, he served as Secretary of the Navy Office until he was officially discharged from service due to complications from injuries he had suffered during the war. He also wrote his first book at that time, before serving as a civil servant on the House Committee on Human Rights Affairs.

Jim Webb chose not to run again. Senate seat in so he could focus on other things. In , he announced he would run for president through the Democratic Party, but after failing to garner enough support, he withdrew his candidacy. She graduated in Hong Le Webb. Hong Le Webb has continued her work as an attorney. The firm is located in Washington, D.

In addition, Ms. Webb advises clients with interests in Asia in the areas of strategic planning, government relations, and international business expansions, operations and transactions. Read More From Heavy. Hong Le Webb and Jim Webb began dating in But they had actually known each other for several years. They met in at a working lunch. We started dating while we were separated from our former spouses, and perhaps going through similarly difficult experiences in our lives allowed our friendship to blossom.

In the Washington Post profile from referenced above, Le Webb shared that they connected over an appreciation for Vietnam. Webb served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. Webb also reportedly speaks Vietnamese fluently. Le and Webb tied the knot in October They have one daughter named Georgia LeAhn, who was born in December Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search that yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data.

Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade. Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body.

Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker. By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

On 9 May , during Operation Muskogee Meadow, a six-man reconnaissance patrol from First Lieutenant Webb's platoon was ambushed and temporarily pinned down by a large North Vietnamese Army force concealed in a tree line four hundred meters in front of Company D's night defensive position. Immediately upon learning of the dangerous situation, First Lieutenant Webb organized a reaction force and proceeded to the point of contact to aid his beleaguered Marines.

When his reaction unit came under enemy automatic weapons and rocket fire as it approached the ambush site, he executed a skillful evasive maneuver, established a base of fire, and continued to advance across the fire-swept terrain to the patrol's position. Rallying and encouraging his men, he directed his base of fire forward to a more advantageous position and led his assault team one hundred and fifty meters across on an open rice paddy in a bold attempt to recover several casualties lying in an open area directly in the line of enemy fire.

As his Marines delivered a heavy volume of fire at hostile positions, First Lieutenant Webb repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire as he dashed into the open and pulled the casualties, one at a time, back to friendly lines. Then, consolidating his platoon, he initiated a sudden, vigorous attack which routed the enemy soldiers from their bunkers, disorganized their fire plan, and forced them to retreat from the area.

His determination and bold fighting spirit inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in saving the lives of at least two Marines and undoubtedly thwarting the enemy's plan to launch a major attack against his unit's night position. By his leadership, extraordinary courage, and unflagging devotion to duty at great personal risk, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

In one segment, he discussed how hard it was to adjust to arriving in Vietnam: "We stepped off an air conditioned plane, where I just watched a first-run movie, and you know, this German stewardess says, 'Have a nice war. In a November 19, appearance on Meet the Press , Webb told host Tim Russert , "I'm one of these people who — there aren't many of us — who can still justify for you the reasons that we went into Vietnam , however screwed up the strategy got.

While at Georgetown, he wrote his first book, Micronesia and U. Pacific Strategy. During this time, he also represented veterans pro-bono. Webb taught at the Naval Academy and was criticized for a article published in Washingtonian magazine, titled "Women Can't Fight" [ 19 ] see " Senate campaign " below. He attended the Republican National Convention in Detroit and led the Pledge of Allegiance in the opening session.

In , he served as Secretary of the Navy , becoming the first Naval Academy graduate to serve as the civilian head of the Navy. Gray, Jr. Webb had wished to increase the Navy to ships. He also warned against a permanent military presence in the Middle East. He charged, "those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade.

In Japan, American occupation forces quickly became 50, friends. In Iraq, they would quickly become 50, terrorist targets. During the presidential campaign , Webb wrote an op-ed piece for USA Today in which he, as a military veteran, evaluated the candidacies of John Kerry and George W. He criticized Kerry for the nature of his opposition to the Vietnam War in the s while affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War , and accused Bush of using his father's connections to avoid service in Vietnam.

Webb wrote that Bush had "committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory" with the invasion of Iraq. Webb supported Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey 's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. In late , a campaign to draft Webb to run for the Senate in began on the internet, promoted by netroots activists such as those at the blog Raising Kaine.

On February 7, , he announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate race against incumbent Virginia Senator George Allen. In the Democratic primary on June 13, , Webb faced longtime businessman and lobbyist Harris Miller. Webb won with On August 11, , an incident occurred in which Allen used the word macaca to refer to Webb campaign associate S.

Sidarth , who was filming an event as a "tracker" for the Webb campaign. A poll the following week showed Webb gaining 10 percentage points. The race, which at one point looked like a sure win for Allen, became one of the most watched and closest races of the elections. Webb's entry into the race and primary victory changed the political landscape.

Political analyst Larry Sabato said in May that "Jim Webb is George Allen's worst nightmare: a war hero and a Reagan appointee who holds moderate positions Allen tries to project a Reagan aura, but Webb already has it. On September 7, , Webb released his first television advertisement, which included footage of a speech by Ronald Reagan that praised Webb's service as a Marine.

Webb was later endorsed by nine military women who stated that Webb is a "man of integrity" who "recognizes the crucial role that women have in the military today. In October , the Allen campaign issued a press release quoting several passages from Webb's novels with sexual content, including graphic references to female anatomy and purported pedophilia, homosexuality and incest, citing a passage in which a Southeast Asian father ritually places the penis of his young son in his mouth.

The press release said that the passages showed a "continued pattern of demeaning women". Titled 'Class Struggle: American workers have a chance to be heard'. The piece addressed the harmful economic inequality in the U. The article cites the "age of globalization and outsourcing, and with a vast underground labor pool from illegal immigration", as well as extravagant executive compensation, the detrimental effects of free trade and globalization, iniquitous tax cuts, speedily rising health care costs, and stagnation in income as the reasons for the increasing disparity between the elites and American workers.

On November 28, , at a White House reception for those newly elected to Congress, Webb did not choose to wait in the line to have his picture taken with the president, [ 41 ] whom Webb often criticized during the campaign. The president approached Webb later and asked him, "How's your boy? Webb replied "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. How's your boy?

Bush on my wall. In response to the incident, some conservatives criticized Webb, including George Will , who called Webb a "boor" and wrote, "[Webb] already has become what Washington did not need another of, a subtraction from the city's civility and clear speaking. Webb's side. Webb was asked about the exchange in a January 4, appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews.

He told Matthews :. My feeling about that — first of all, it's been kind of a bit overblown. But I think when people are now seeing how John McCain is handling the situation with his son being in the Marine Corps , perhaps they can understand a little bit more what I was having to go through during the entire campaign. I greatly respect my son's service and all of the people who are serving.

At the same time, I have not commented, even to many of my friends, about the operational side. That's personal to me in terms of my feelings about it. And it was not a casual comment. As I said in the piece that you just ran, I think the best article that was written on that was by Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal when she basically said that the lack of civility was not mine and I feel that way.

After his son returned from Iraq, Webb "buried the hatchet" with the president by setting up a private chat with his son, the president, and himself in the Oval Office. On January 3, , Webb was sworn into the th U. Senate , accompanied by Sen. John Warner , R-Va. Chuck Robb , who held the same seat before losing to Allen. The act replaces key provisions of the Montgomery G.

Bill for recent veterans and "makes veterans benefits identical to those soldiers received following World War II". This is exactly what our legislation does", Webb said. It became law on June 30, , as part of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of What we really need to do is to get into the arena where we can talk about a strategy, talk about the pluses and the minuses of the Baker-Hamilton Commission and work toward a solution that, on the one hand, will allow us to remove our combat troops, but on the other, will increase the stability of the region, allow us to continue to fight against international terrorism and allow us, as a nation, to address our strategic interests around the world.

And this is — this is one of the drawbacks that we've had with so many troops having been put into this constant rotational basis inside one country when we have a war against international terrorism that's global. Asked by Wolf Blitzer if he would ever support the efforts of Dennis Kucinich to cut funding for the war, Webb said,.

I — you know, I lived through Vietnam. I lived through it as a Marine and I know that those sorts of approaches, while they seem attractive on one level are really not that realistic. What we want to do — and I was talking with a number of senators today — is to try to get some of these so-called emergency legislation packages back into the committee process so that the committees can actually play.

On January 23, , Webb delivered the Democratic response to the president's State of the Union address , focusing on the economy and Iraq. On March 5, , Webb introduced his second piece of legislation, S. In a statement on the floor of the Senate, Webb said, "The major function of this legislation is to prevent this Administration from commencing unprovoked military activities against Iran without the approval of the Congress.

The legislation accomplishes this goal through the proper constitutional process of prohibiting all funding for such an endeavor.

Hong le webb biography of william

On March 26, , a senatorial aide of Webb, Phillip Thompson, was arrested for carrying Webb's loaded pistol as he entered the Russell Senate Office Building and for carrying unregistered ammunition. The weapon was discovered when Thompson went through an X-ray machine with a briefcase that contained a loaded pistol and two additional loaded magazines.

I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment; I have had a permit to carry a weapon in Virginia for a long time; I believe that it's important; it's important to me personally and to a lot of people in the situation that I'm in to be able to defend myself and my family. Webb stated that sanctions have isolated the country, thereby encouraging the ruling regime to turn to China and allowing "China to dramatically increase its economic and political influence in Myanmar, furthering a dangerous strategic imbalance in the region.

Webb visited Vietnam as part of a two-week trip to five Southeast Asian countries. Webb, who can speak Vietnamese, has had a continuous involvement in Asian and Pacific affairs that long predates his time in the Senate. In addition to his more recent visits as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , Webb has worked and traveled throughout this vast region, from Micronesia to Burma, for nearly four decades, as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a Department of Defense executive, and as a business consultant.

He worked in the s as a consultant for companies attempting to do business in Vietnam. On March 26, , Webb filed the Criminal Justice Commission Act of Archived February 5, , at the Wayback Machine SB , which would create a blue ribbon commission to reevaluate the criminal justice system and drug policy and make recommendations for reform.

The subcommittee chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter D-PA , expressed support for the bill at the hearing and indicated his intent to move the bill to the full United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In the fall of , an amendment to SB was proposed by Sen. Charles Grassley R-IA that would have prohibited the commission created by the bill from discussing or recommending the decriminalization or legalization of any substance prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act.

Grassley later rescinded the amendment and claimed in a Des Moines Register op-ed that he had proposed it to "start a debate on this important issue". On February 9, , Webb announced that he would not run for re-election to his Senate seat in Webb was frequently mentioned as a possible vice presidential Democratic nominee for Barack Obama in due to his military experience and moderate policy positions.

On July 7, Webb effectively removed himself as a possible candidate for vice president in a statement made to Time , stating that he intended to serve his term in the Senate and "under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President. On November 19, , Webb announced the formation of an exploratory committee in preparation for a possible bid for the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States in On June 15, , Webb announced he would make a decision regarding a presidential bid by the end of the month.

On October 20, , after failing to gain substantial support for his campaign ahead of the primaries, Webb announced that he would be dropping out of the Democratic presidential race in favor of a possible independent presidential run citing his "frustration with party leadership". On March 4, , Webb stated that he would not vote for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and declined to rule out voting for Donald Trump.

Webb's successful first novel, Fields of Fire , drawn from personal experience, tells the story of a platoon of United States Marines in late s Vietnam. Reviewers hailed its descriptions of infantry life and combat. Webb wrote the story, and was the executive producer, for the film Rules of Engagement , which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L.

Before completing rehabilitation, he is called back to active duty. His father, in an attempt to save his son's life, kidnaps him. In October , while commenting on the need to break away from stereotypical movie villains , Webb stated, "[e]very movie needs a villain. Towel-heads and rednecks —of which I am one His first marriage was to Barbara Samorajczyk, a lawyer who has worked for various real estate and development companies in Washington, D.

They have one daughter, Amy, who was eight when they divorced in Webb and Samorajczyk have three grandchildren. His second marriage was to Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs and health-care lobbyist Jo Ann Krukar in ; [ 93 ] in later years, long after their divorce, she also assisted in his Senate campaign. They have three children: Sarah, Jimmy, and Julia.

She grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. They married in October Webb is also a stepfather to Hong Le's daughter from a previous marriage. Webb won election to the senate in , defeating incumbent George Allen. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

American politician, military officer and author born For other people named James Webb, see James Webb disambiguation. Barbara Samorajczyk. Jo Ann Krukar. Jim Webb's voice. Jones on U. Early life and education [ edit ]. Military service [ edit ]. Awards and decorations [ edit ]. Post-military career [ edit ]. United States Senate [ edit ].

Main article: United States Senate election in Virginia. Senator-elect [ edit ].