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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Chesno Traitor?


So, am I a traitor?

My chances of going to Afghanistan with my Army buddies came to a screeching halt on Sunday when I was told that I had to renounce my Canadian citizenship to get the required top secret security clearance to go. I did not renounce it and now I am not going.

That is probably for the best, but I can't help but feel a bit like a traitor when my brothers-at-arms are going off to battle with our newly-allied Afghani friends, and I am staying home because I pledge allegiance to another country.

But, I guess that's something I have to work out on my own.

2 comments:

Soozcat said...

That seems so bizarre to me. Your birth in Canada, your original nationality, is a part of your individual identity, and it doesn't make you any less loyal or patriotic an American. The Canadian military have been our allies in this war, for heaven's sake. Plus you've already served in combat; you'd think they would take that into account.

Funny, they didn't have any problem sending Grandpa behind enemy lines even though he'd been born in Sweden, which was officially neutral during WWII.

Chesno Slova said...

It has been a bizarre past five days for me. I have been swamped with feelings of dread and anticipation that I was going, and then the same that I wasn't going, and more. . .

I think it is funny too. I have served in combat, been a member of the US Army for nearly a decade and a naturalized US Citizen since the age of 12. How would I be a different person if I renounced my Canadian citizenship?

To play devil's advocate, it could be asked, "If you wouldn't be a different person, then why don't you renounce it?" Just one of the things I am working out.