Major general to speak at Prayer Breakfast

James H. Mukoyama, Jr., Major General, United States Army Retired, and president and chief executive officer, Military Outreach USA, will give the keynote address at the Arlington Heights Mayor's 30th Annual Prayer Breakfast.

Tickets are now on sale for the event that will be from 7-9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Doubletree Hotel, 75 Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights. The event features a breakfast buffet, scripture readings, music, and the keynote address.

Mukoyama. was born in Chicago and currently resides in Glenview with K.J., his wife of more than 40 years. They attend Willow Creek Community Church, where he has led a men's small group for over a decade, codirects a monthly men's breakfast, and founded a military ministry program.

Mukoyama has a distinguished record of service to America. He was commissioned as a Regular Army Infantry Second Lieutenant in 1965 upon graduation from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. He received his master's degree in the Teaching of Social Studies, also from the University of Illinois, in 1966.

During his five years on active duty, Mukoyama served as a platoon leader in the demilitarized zone in the Republic of Korea and as an infantry company commander in the 9th Division in Vietnam. He was the youngest General Officer in the entire United States Army in 1987, and subsequently the youngest Major General three years later.

In 1989, he became the first Asian-American in the history of the United States to command an Army division. Among Mukoyama's decorations and badges are the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, 3 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, Parachutist Badge, Expert Infantryman's Badge, and Combat Infantryman's Badge.

He retired from the Army in May 1995 after more than 30 years of total active and reserve component service, and two combat tours. Following his retirement, Mukoyama has volunteered and participated in numerous organizations, both governmental and nonprofit charitable, benefiting our military, veterans, and the community.

In addition to his full-time civilian position as executive vice-president and chief compliance officer of a national stock brokerage firm, Mukoyama spent seven years as the vice chairman of the National Memorial to Patriotism, dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 2001.

He is a life member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Disabled American Veterans.

Mukoyama served for five years, the last two as chairman, on the Advisory Committee for Minority Veterans for the Department of Veterans Affairs, traveling throughout the nation on behalf of minority veterans to improve services and information to the field.

His local community activities involved eight years as president and board member of a senior citizens subsidized housing apartment complex in an inner city Chicago neighborhood, serving six years with his wife as a hospice patient volunteer, and for over a decade as a volunteer instructor for the Military Ministry of CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) in the Command Religious Program at the Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Center Chapel, and since 2010 has participated in the training of Navy Recruit Instructors. He is a director of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago.

Additional activities include the National Veterans Network, a nonprofit organization that obtained the award of the Congressional Gold Medal to Japanese American World War II veterans in 2012, with Mukoyama in charge of the design of the medal.

In January 2013, Mukoyama answered a calling to devote his life to the ministry of Military Outreach USA, a faith-based 501(c)(3) organization serving our military - active, guard, reserve, veterans - and their families, to cope with the visible and invisible wounds associated with military service to our great nation.

In order to serve as the president and executive director, Mukoyama's 38-year career in the financial services industry, where he had been a member of the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange, ended.

In May 2013, the governor of the state of Illinois issued a proclamation honoring Mukoyama as the state of Illinois Veteran of the Month for his commitment and contributions to veterans and their families. In October 2013, Mukoyama was included in the inaugural class inducted into the University of Illinois Army ROTC Hall of Fame.

In May 2015, Mukoyama was appointed co-chairman of the Patient Advisory Council for the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, the first joint Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affair medical facility in the nation. In September, he was elected as a director of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago.

In November 2016, Mukoyama received the Volunteers of America Lifetime Service Award in recognition of his lifelong public service in the military as a veteran's advocate and as a volunteer and leader in community, faith-based, and national service organizations.

Mukoyama has been listed in Marquis Who's Who in America since 1994. He will be speaking about the role that faith has played and continues to hold in his life. Those attending the prayer breakfast should come prepared to be inspired.

Lutheran Life Communities is the sponsoring organization for the prayer breakfast. Tickets are $20 per person and may be ordered and paid for online at http://arlingtonheightschamber.com. Individuals and organizations may also book tables.

Click on events for February and then click on the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. For more information, contact chamber staff at the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce at (847) 253-1703 or email at info@arlingtonhcc.com.

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