It's not your father's country--in some ways, it's better
ARMY SPEC. Wai Pyoe Lwin in March became the first
In John Wayne's squad, diversity meant an Irishman, a Pole, an Italian--all American-born ethnics--and maybe a Southerner. By the 1960s, blacks and Hispanics would have dappled the Duke's old unit. Today, not even counting "hyphenated Americans," 28,000 foreign nationals serve on active duty in the U.S. military, an express lane to American citizenship. And if you're now picturing a young Mexican in a Kevlar helmet, you need to expand your frame by, oh, the circumference of the globe.
U.S. soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors hail from an amazing 211 nations, and while Mexico certainly chips in its share (3,489) to this welter, our southern neighbor ranks second to the Philippines, with 5,514 enlistees, reports the Department of Defense. Pick a continent, any continent. Asia? Bearing arms for the United States are 306 Vietnamese, 262 Thais, 127 Indians, and 461 Koreans--including 67 North Koreans. Africa? GI Joes and Janes represent Nigeria (340), Sierra Leone (60), and the Ivory Coast (26). Somewhere out there in cammies is an officer from Mozambique.
What about Middle East nations? It's possible that one of the six Israelis serving under the American flag is standing guard duty with one of the 17 Egyptians, 29 Iranians, or nine Lebanese who are his brothers-in-arms. And it looks like there's one Constitution that a "European union" can endorse: America's. Danes (2), Dutchmen (9), Brits (224), and Belgians (15) have pledged to uphold it. Maybe suspend that wine boycott just long enough to toast the 20 Frenchmen who have taken the pledge.
"For he to-day that sheds his blood with me/Shall be my brother," said a Shakespearean king. He today that wears our nation's uniform and serves honorably shall be our countryman. That country--no longer, this part of it, solely white and black with a faded thread of red and a rumor of brown--is changing, as the composition of today's military makes plain; the nation should celebrate its new citizens, who are different not only in color and national origin but also in faith. What better way to do this than during the civic rituals their sacrifices help preserve?
In a 2004 decision involving a North Carolina case, the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dissuaded Fredericksburg Councilman Hashmel Turner from opening council meetings with overtly Christian prayers. But the court in April upheld the right of governing bodies to host such sectarian prayers by private citizens on a rotating basis. It is a good bet that the three brave young men mentioned above were, respectively, Buddhist, Muslim, and Lamaist. They and many diverse others, in uniform and out, make America more American because they ask it to expand its idea of itself.
This is sacred work, which councils and boards should regularly recognize. Let the benedictions come from one and all on a fairly devised schedule, and let the secular sour bellies with the ACLU on speed dial gnash their teeth. It is more than permissible to establish the faith of freedom.