{"id":9,"date":"2015-11-24T11:49:40","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T16:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/thenewworld\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2015-12-09T18:50:31","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T23:50:31","slug":"foreign-patriots-achieving-american-dream","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/thenewworld-wp\/foreign-patriots-achieving-american-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the details of Augie Scarino\u2019s story are unique, immigrants serving in the
\nUnited States military is not.<\/p>\n

In fact, according to the most recent data from the Department of Defense, more than 65,000 immigrants, both naturalized and non-citizens, currently serve in the U.S. military. That accounts for nearly five percent of all U.S. service members. These foreign patriots come from all over the world: the Philippines, Mexico, Jamaica, Korea and the Dominican Republic being among the countries most widely represented.<\/p>\n

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\"20151202100753\"<\/a>

Source: Active Duty Personnel Master File, Department of Defense.<\/p><\/div>\n

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But it\u2019s not just that immigrants choose to serve, their service is increasingly essential to a functioning military and vital to our national security. Not only are immigrants half as likely to dropout of service than their U.S.-born peers, but they also bring language and cultural skills often lacking in U.S.-born service members.<\/p>\n

The expertise brought by immigrants is \u201ccritical to mission readiness in today\u2019s dynamic global environment,\u201d then-Secretary of State Leon Panetta said in a 2011 memo. \u201cOur forces must have the ability to effectively communicate with and understand the cultures of coalition forces, international partners, and local populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, military recruiters are facing an ever-shrinking pool of qualified U.S.-born recruits. According to the Pentagon, as much as 75 percent of males aged 18 to 24 were deemed ineligible to serve. The reasons for disqualification range from failure to graduate high school to criminal records to health problems, including obesity.<\/p>\n

With 1.2 million male immigrants between the ages of 18 and 24, the military is looking to non-citizens to help fill the gap, and has thrown their support behind the DREAM Act in order to increase this pool even further.<\/p>\n

While in today’s climate foreign-born recruits are becoming progressively\u00a0fundamental to military operations, the U.S. has a long history of reaching its hand out to these individuals.<\/p>\n

Immigrants have borne arms for the United States in every American war since the Revolution. During the Civil War, immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Germany, made up 18 percent of Union service members. And during the immigration boom of the early 20th century, the U.S. military served as a means to integrate new arrivals into the American way of life\u2014naturalizing more than 192,000 immigrant service members during World War I.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more is these immigrants have and continue to serve with distinction, receiving all levels of commendations including the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart.<\/p>\n

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I am what I am right now because of America. In other countries none of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One Purple Heart recipient is Jesse Baltazar.<\/p>\n

Baltazar was born in Manila, Philippines in 1920, and served in three wars for the United States: World War II, Korea and Vietnam. A piece of shrapnel from a Japanese bomb imbedded itself in his leg during the Battle of Bataan on March 15, 1942. Because his military records were lost, it took until 2015 before he was recognized for his wounds.<\/p>\n

Today, at the age of 95, he continues to serve as a security advisor with the State Department in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n