To these classmates Shinseki's candor about Iraq made him as much a hero as his Vietnam combat record, and today, as we look back on Iraq and try to decide who the best and brightest generals of that war were, Shinseki's 2003 judgment shines through.
But despite his bravery and combat record, he was more of an engineer than a warrior, and a hero who would have dismissed the notion that he was heroic.