(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY: STEVEN HSIEH

ANCHOR: AUSTIN KIM

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili died Saturday from complications due to a stroke.  He was 75.

CBS has the president’s reaction.

“In a statement, President Obama noted that the general arrived in the United States as a 16-year-old, Polish immigrant, learned English from John Wayne movies, and rose through the ranks of the U.S. military to live an ‘only in America’ story." (CBS)

Shalikashvili – also known as General Shali – served on active duty for more than 39 years.  He rose to the top of the U.S. military under President Clinton in 1993. (Video: C-SPAN)

Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to the four-star general in 1997.  In a written statement, the former president highlighted Shalikashvili’s career.

“His staunch advocacy for the Bosnian people saved thousands of lives in the Balkans. He was also a key advocate for nuclear weapons reduction, the expansion of NATO, the creation of a partnership for peace, and, always, for the men and women in uniform from whose ranks he came. I was honored to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom." 

Born in Poland, Shalikashvili was the first immigrant to become the Joint Chiefs Chairman.  The New York Times provides some more background in an obituary...

“John Shalikashvili was born ‘stateless’ on June 27, 1936. His parents were both refugees — In 1944, the family fled to Germany in a cattle car as the Soviet Army advanced. After the war, the family came to the United States and settled in Peoria, Ill." 

General Shali is survived by his wife, Joan, and son, Brant.
 

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Transcript by Newsy.