AND IF YOU BELIEVE IN FREEDOM, YOU ARE OUR BROTHER:

For Immigrants, a Special Sacrifice: War Takes Toll on Foreign-Born in Armed Forces (Amy Goldstein and Sylvia Moreno, April 7, 2003, Washington Post)

Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, flew a Colombian flag from the rearview mirror of the Mustang he bought with his Army signing bonus. Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, created a Web site with photographs of himself in Marine uniform under the title, "the Thai import with a baby face." Just before Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar enlisted in the Marines, he went back to Mexico and bought a figurine of the Aztec warrior he considered himself to be.

Chanawongse now is classified as missing in action in Iraq. Rincon and Suarez Del Solar have been killed. Their fates attest to the toll the Iraq conflict is taking on young men and women who are fighting a war for a country that was not originally theirs.

After the war's first 2 1/2 weeks, the Pentagon has disclosed the names of 71 U.S. service members killed, seven missing and seven captured in Iraq. Of those, eight of the dead, two of the missing and two prisoners of war had immigrated to the United States, according to interviews with relatives and friends. Just four of the immigrants were U.S. citizens when the war began.

Their presence among the war's early victims outstrips the representation of immigrants in the U.S. military overall. Yet it reflects the military's attractiveness to foreign-born residents as they come of age -- an appeal that is fostered, in part, by policies that offer a quick path to citizenship for those who enlist.

As they explained it to their families, the attraction is a blend of wanderlust, economic aspiration and adoptive patriotism. Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Rincon approached an Army recruiter, who had wandered into a Conyers, Ga., gym where the teenager worked, and announced that he wanted to help fight terrorism. On March 29, Rincon was one of four soldiers killed in a car bombing in Iraq.

This cadre of immigrants, now missing or dead, talked of an indelible pride in the armed services, in the nation's elemental values. Yet their individual identities persisted.

The Judds arrived in America in 1630 and, to be perfectly honest, would have been perfectly happy to freeze immigration the moment they stepped ashore; thus has it ever been. Which makes it all the more humbling to read the lists of those who've died so far fighting for the nation we all share, Coalition Troop Casualties, POWs, MIAs (The Guardian, April 7, 2003)

DEATHS:

April 4:

Army Capt. Tristan N. Aitken, 31, State College, Pa., combat

Army Pfc. Wilfred D. Bellard, 20, Lake Charles, La., vehicle fell into ravine

Army Spc. Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, 33, Lewiston, Maine, vehicle fell into ravine

Marine Capt. Travis Ford, 30, Oceanside, Calif., helicopter crash

Army Pvt. Devon D. Jones, 19, San Diego, vehicle fell into ravine

Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis, 29, Rehoboth, Mass., helicopter crash

Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, 33, of Tampa, Fla., combat

April 3:

Marine Pfc. Chad E. Bales, 20, Coahoma, Texas, non-hostile accident

Army Sgt. Wilbert Davis, 40, Hinesville, Ga., vehicle accident

Marine Cpl. Mark A. Evnin, 21, South Burlington, Vt., combat

Army Capt. Edward J. Korn, 31, Savannah, Ga., combat

Army Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudais, 23, Utah, combat

Army Spc. Ryan P. Long, 21, Seaford, Del., combat

Army Spc. Donald S. Oaks Jr., 20, Harborcreek, Pa., combat

Army Sgt. 1st Class Randy Rehn, 36, Longmont, Colo., combat

Army Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe, 27, Colorado, combat

Army Sgt. Todd J. Robbins, 33, Hart, Mich., combat

Marine Cpl. Erik H. Silva, 22, Chula Vista, Calif., combat

April 2:

Army Capt. James F. Adamouski, 29, Springfield, Va., helicopter crash

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian E. Anderson, 26, Durham, N.C., non-hostile accident

Army Spc. Mathew Boule, 22, Dracut, Mass., helicopter crash

Army Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, 36, El Paso, Texas

Marine Pfc. Christian D. Gurtner, 19, Ohio City, Ohio, non-combat weapons discharge

Army Chief Warrant Officer 4th Class Erik A. Halvorsen, 40, Bennington, Vt., helicopter crash.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Scott Jamar, 32, Granbury, Texas, helicopter crash

Army Sgt. Michael Pedersen, 26, Flint, Mich., helicopter crash

Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric A. Smith, 42, Rochester, N.Y., helicopter crash

April 1:

Army Sgt. Jacob L. Butler, 24, Wellsville, Kan., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Maglione, 22, Lansdale, Pa., non-combat weapon discharge

March 31:

Army Spc. Brandon Rowe, 20, Roscoe, Ill., combat

March 30:

Marine Capt. Aaron J. Contreras, 31, Sherwood, Ore., helicopter crash

Marine Sgt. Michael V. Lalush, 23, Troutville, Va., helicopter crash

Marine Sgt. Brian McGinnis, 23, St. Georges, Del., helicopter crash

March 29:

Marine Staff Sgt. James Cawley, 41, Layton, Utah, combat

Army Cpl. Michael Curtin, 23, Howell, N.J., suicide attack

Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, Conyers, Ga., suicide attack

Army Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, Palm Bay, Fla., suicide attack

Marine Lance Cpl. William W. White, 24, New York, vehicle accident

Army Sgt. Eugene Williams, 24, Highland, N.Y, suicide attack

March 28:

Army Sgt. Roderic A. Solomon , 32, Fayetteville, N.C., vehicle accident

March 27:

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, 33, Tracy, Calif., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar, 20, Escondido, Calif., combat

March 26:

Army Spc. William A. Jeffries, 39, Evansville, Ind., illness

Marine Maj. Kevin G. Nave, 36, White Lake Township, Mich., vehicle accident

March 25:

Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr., 25, Little Rock, Ark., combat

Marine Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores, 21, Los Angeles, combat

Marine Staff Sgt. Donald C. May, Jr., 31, Richmond, Va., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day, 20, Santa Rosa, Calif., combat

Marine Cpl. Robert M. Rodriguez, 21, New York, combat

Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, Boise, Idaho, grenade attack

March 24:

Marine Cpl. Evan James, 20, La Harpe, Ill., drowned in canal

Marine Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus, 29, Davenport, Iowa, drowned in canal

Army Spc. Gregory P. Sanders, 19, Hobart, Ind., combat

March 23:

Army Spc. Jamaal R. Addison, 22, Roswell, Ga., combat

Marine Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, 31, Ventura, Calif., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, 20, Cedar Key, Fla., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. David K. Fribley, 26, Fort Myers, Fla., combat

Marine Cpl. Jose A. Garibay, 21, Costa Mesa, Calif., combat

Marine Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, Los Angeles, combat

Army Pfc. Howard Johnson II, 21, Mobile, Ala., combat

Marine Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan, 42, Enfield, Conn., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick R. Nixon, 21, Gallatin, Tenn., combat

Marine 2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., 31, Tonopah, Nev., combat

Marine Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker, 21, San Diego, combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Slocum, 22, Thornton, Colo., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, Yuma, Ariz.

March 22:

Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, La Mesa, Calif., helicopter collision

Marine Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski, 26, Buffalo, N.Y., machine gun accident

Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, Easton, Pa., grenade attack

Army Reserve Spc. Brandon S. Tobler, 19, Portland, Ore., vehicle accident

March 21:

Marine Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, Waterville, Maine, helicopter crash

Marine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, St. Anne, Ill., helicopter crash

Marine 2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, Harrison County, Miss., combat

Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, Los Angeles, combat

Marine Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, Houston, helicopter crash

Marine Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, 29, Baltimore, helicopter crash

Date not given:

Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas A. Blair, 24, Broken Arrow, Okla., combat

Marine Sgt. Nicolas M. Hodson, 22, Smithville, Mo., vehicle accident

Army Spc. James Kiehl, 22, Comfort, Texas, combat

Army Sgt. George Edward Buggs, 31, Barnwell, S.C., combat

Army Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, Cleveland, combat

Army Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, El Paso, Texas, combat

Army Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, Pecos, Texas, combat

Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, Tuba City, Ariz., combat

Army Pvt. Brandon Sloan, 19, Bedford Heights, Ohio, combat

Army Sgt. Donald Walters, 33, Kansas City, Mo., combat

CAPTURED:

March 24:

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, Lithia Springs, Ga.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 David S. Williams, 30, Orlando, Fla.

March 23:

Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, Mission, Texas

Army Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, Alamogordo, N.M.

Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, Fort Bliss, Texas

Army Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, Park City, Kan.

Army Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J.

MISSING:

March 23:

Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, Brownsville, Texas.

Marine Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett, 21, Buffalo, N.Y.

Marine Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, Waterford, Conn.

Marine Lance Cpl. Donald J. Cline, Jr., 21, Sparks, Nev.

Marine Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford, 30, Decatur, Ill.

Marine Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings, 19, Boiling Springs, S.C.

Marine Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, 26, Yuma, Ariz.

Marine Sgt. Brendon Reiss, 23, Casper, Wyo.

Does anyone need more evidence that America is a set of ideas, accesible to all, regardless of race, creed, or color? Posted by Orrin Judd at April 7, 2003 3:29 PM