American Diplomat Greets Korean Students
By Deb Quezon
Staff Reporter
America embraces those who embrace her values, is the message delivered by Patrick Joseph Linehan, minister-counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy Friday during the Holiday Series II ``Born on the Fourth of July’’ program.
``America is a welcoming country founded by immigrants, and continues to welcome immigrants’’ he said, addressing an audience of Korean students and young adults. ``But the simple package is that if you come to the country, there are a certain set of values you must live by.’’
Linehan, the keynote speaker of the function, shared early American history with the students, guiding their educational experience from the Jamestown Settlement of 1607; setbacks in American ideals; and historic comebacks achieved through flexibility and humility, with a fortitude for change.
``In our Declaration of Independence, it states, ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’’ Linehan said. ``But, not all were treated equally.’’
Linehan was referring to the notorious annals of American history in which there were disparities in voting rights, slavery was legal and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II was upheld by the Supreme Court. Yet, the U.S. diplomat proclaimed that America rights her wrongs to set the course straight and move toward the core value system that ``makes Americans who they are.’’
``Through our court system, we apologize for them (injustices), establish a new principle that is in line with our core value system, and then move on’’ Linehan said.
Linehan, 54, is a native of Boston and a graduate of Arizona State University where he achieved a bachelor's degree in political science and Russian in 1974.
He continued his education to attain a master's degree in political science in1977 from the University of Wisconsin.
He has been in the U.S. Foreign Service since 1984. He has represented his country on assignments in Finland, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Brazil and Canada.
He is fluent in Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. He assumed his duties as minister-counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy on June 15.