Camp Pendleton Marines Look Forward to U.S. Citizenship

AP ^ | Published: Jul 20, 2002 | By Seth Hettena

[Captainpaintball]

As a new citizen, Wanjoh, who speaks seven languages, said he will be able to apply to work in military intelligence and bring his mother and two sisters to the country.

THIS is the kind of person we should be talking about when we describe the typical immigrant. He is an asset to our country; I'm proud to call him an American!

[Camber-G]

I agree 100% Captain.
I have a few friends who's grandfathers got this same deal for fighting in the Korean or Vietnam Wars for the USA.

[Reagan is King]

You don't have to be a citizen to be in the Marines? I guess I always thought it was a requirement but apparently not. I would think there would be some worries about the strength of their loyalty when they aren't fighting for their own country. Oh well, I learn something every day...

[Bad~Rodeo]

I use an Auto-cocker and a Spyder myself...L~

[Caesar Soze]

When actually in combat, typical soldiers, marines, etc. fight for their buddies, not for their flag, so no danger there. Marine instructors go to great length to instill espirit de corps, pride, loyalty, etc. I'm sure those marines that do fight for their flag consider the flag of the US to be theirs. Those things, combined with the fact that marines are volunteers and the enlisted marines aren't privy to terribly valuable information, makes non-citizen marines minimal security risks.

The real security risks are the unscrupulous officers like John Walker (the original, not Lindh; USN, not USMC), and crazies like LHO.

[Prodigal Son]

Yep, a lot of foreigners have enlisted in the military and fight for Americans who would never enlist themselves. A lot of people aren't aware of it. I've served alongside natives from Colombia, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Germany, UK, Jamaica and Spain- just to name a few. For whatever reason they were all good soldiers and seemed to take a bit more pride in their uniform than did some of their fellow platoon members. The guy from Norway in particular had been in the Norwegian Navy, I went through basic with him. Next time I saw him in the Army he had a Ranger tab and was in a LRSD (?) unit.

[MissAmericanPie]

My problem with a foregin army protecting the USofA is the fact that they would have no hesitation in waring against American citizens should that event ever occur. Marshal Law comes to mind.

[SamAdams76]

This must be something relatively new. I was in the Marines from 1981-85 and I don't remember any non-citizens in the ranks. I too thought U.S. citizenship was a requirement in the armed services. Nevertheless, I guess its better to have immigrants join our armed services and earn their citizenship than to go on welfare.

[warchild9]

They earned their citizenship. Welcome to them all!

[VA Advogado]

THIS is the kind of person we should be talking about when we describe the typical immigrant. He is an asset to our country; I'm proud to call him an American!

Ditto to that. The problem though is there are still pockets of people here and in our society that won't see the green of the Army uniform, but the darkness of his skin and say he's not one of us.

[VA Advogado]

My problem with a foregin army protecting the USofA is the fact that they would have no hesitation in waring against American citizens should that event ever occur. Marshal Law comes to mind.

First, this is OUR army, not a foreign army protecting us. Please try to subdue your prejudices against fine soldiers like the one in this story. Many immigrants know more about this country and are happier to be here than some native borns.

[homeschool mama]

** Many immigrants know more about this country and are happier to be here than some native borns. **

bump

[MissAmericanPie]

Uh, sure Abe. For all the chatter about Reagan and the Pope defeating the Evil Empire, and they certainly did their part, the real reason it fell, when it got right down to it, was the refusal of Russian soldiers to use their tanks against their own people.

I don't think foreigners in the military is a good idea for obvious reasons. It's far too risky to wait and find out, when and if it came down to the wire, if they would display the same loyalty and gallantry toward the citizens here. Perhaps they would be just as gallant, but why even risk it?

[NMFXSTC]

I sereved 27 years...many, many uniformed folks were not citizen of the US (Philippine enlistees in the Navy used to have to serve four years as "stewards"...mess cooks and sort of personal servants to the officers...before being allowed to train for another specilaty)

If yu doubt their patriotism, look at how many Canadians enlisted in our forces...better yet...see how many Irishmen fought in Vietnam and under the red, white and blue, star spangled banner...check out THIS link:

http://www.irishonthewall.com/

[Sabertooth]

The problem though is there are still pockets of people here and in our society that won't see the green of the Army uniform, but the darkness of his skin and say he's not one of us.

Haven't seen that.

Perhaps I was distracted by the race-baiting troll.

[FAXGRAM]

"although home is thousands of miles away in Nairobi, Kenya."

God bless president Bush!

[VA Advogado]

I don't think foreigners in the military is a good idea for obvious reasons. It's far too risky to wait and find out, when and if it came down to the wire, if they would display the same loyalty and gallantry toward the citizens here. Perhaps they would be just as gallant, but why even risk it?

I've never seen someone so consistently wrong as you are on this site. I think the Continental Army did pretty damn good with all those foreign fellows.

[VA Advogado]

Haven't seen that.

Thanks for confirming my theory.