Americaner

A coalition of the willing is fighting in Iraq--more diverse than you imagine.

Date published: 6/8/2005

Americaner

It's not your father's country--in some ways, it's better

ARMY SPEC. Wai Pyoe Lwin in March became the first Burmese-American to die in Iraq when a homemade bomb blew up his Humvee, reports Radio Free Asia. Killed alongside the naturalized U.S. citizen was Azhar Ali, a Pakistani-American GI. A month later, Marine Lance Cpl. Tenzin Choeku Dengkhim died in an explosion while on foot patrol. Indian-born, the 19-year-old was the first Tibetan-American to fall in Iraq. Looking for an ultra-diverse coalition of the willing? Behold the U.S. armed forces, e pluribus unum with an M-16.

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.

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Date published: 6/8/2005