Independence Day 250

❝ Many stories in the news lately about citizenship. I have a story I want to tell you. It is NOT a political statement. It is a true and amusing story and too many words for these old thumbs to use on a cell phone.

In the summer of 1961 I was in the U.S. Army, Signal Corps. At that time there were 10 or 12 long distance communications relay stations in South Korea and I was stationed on one. They were all about a one acre fenced-in area on top of a mountain. Each site had about 15 American soldiers and several had to be on duty 24/7. When a very few number of people live and work in a small area you get to be good friends and know all about each other. About once a month one person would leave and a new person would arrive and then we would all get to know the new guy.

One day a new man arrived named Jack. When we met he said he was 25 years old and I was 20 so I am just guessing about the year of his birth. As he went around introducing himself everyone was thinking the same thing. With that accent, he is not an American. A short time later someone asked, “are you an American?”. He said, “yes, I am an American citizen but I was born in England.” Over the next few days he told us his life story. And here is his story.

Jack was born in 1935 a few miles away from London and had an older brother born in about 1933. In about 1938 his Mother died. He had no Aunts, Uncles or Grandparents. The only family he had was his brother and father. To make things even worse it was only a few years later when WWII started and he remembered hearing bomb exploding. Many men went to fight in the war but Jack’s father did not go into the military. Maybe he was excused because of being a single-father. What made things even worse was that Jack and his brother hated their father. He said they both looked forward to when they were adults and would never see him again.

Now move forward to about 1951 and talk about England’s draft law. It was very much like the draft laws in America. In England at the age of 18 all young men MUST sign up for the draft. When signing-up they were given a choice. You can go into active duty now and serve the mandatory four years or wait two to five years for us to call you to do your mandatory four years. Then there was one more option, much different from anything in America, you could sign up for 20 years and receive a large cash bonus. They knew that sometimes a person may sign up for 20 years and then change their mind later so they had a way to get out. After serving your mandatory 4 years you could buy back some of those years. Very few were able to buy their way out because they had spent the money not invested the money. And it is hard saving up money on a small salary.

When Jack’s brother turned 18 his father took him to the draft office but came home alone. Jack’s father said that his brother had joined the Navy. Several weeks later Jack received a letter from his brother with the true story. His father took him to the draft office and forced him to sign up for 20 years. Now he was gone for the next 20 years and Dad had money. Jack’s brother warned him to not let the same thing happen to him. Jack’s brother suggested that he should work and save and just before turning 18 to disappear.

He took his brother’s advice. A short time before he turned 18 he ran away and made it to the nearest seaport. He purchased a one-way ticket to America. He had been reading and studying and figured he could come here and ask for asylum. When trying to leave the ship he was stopped, he said he wanted asylum and to live in the United States. He explained why and they said sorry but you need a better reason than that. He was then locked up in a room and told that in a few days he would be placed back on the ship and headed back to England. During the next few days he had several visitors. A priest, doctor and several others. They all said “sorry but we can’t help you”.

Then one day a U.S. Army recruiter came to visit. The recruiter said I can solve your problems. If you join the U.S. Army for four years they will not deport while you are on active duty. Jack asked how can that help, and the recruiter explained. If you join the Army for four years and work hard and do all the right things here this is what will happen. Many people are waiting to become U.S. citizen but someone in the Army and on active goes to the head of the list. He said that it may take 2 or 3 years but you will become a U.S. citizen before he left active duty.

Jack said he was scared but he joined the Army and a few weeks later he was in basic training. After basic training he went for several months to the advanced training in the Signal Corps. He was taught to use and repair Army radio and communication equipment. About half way through the Signal Corps school he was called into the office. And this is what he was told. They said you are doing very good in school but to do the job you are being trained for takes a security clearance and you can’t get one because you are not a U.S. citizen. Then he was told that the head of the Army base was working on it and should be a U.S. citizen in a few weeks. A few weeks later he graduated school as a U.S. citizen.

After finishing school his first assignment was in Germany. After being there a few months he started dating someone and a few months later they wanted to get married so he went to the legal officer on base. He said the legal officer asked to meet the woman for an interview and they had a meeting. A couple weeks later the legal officer helped them to get married and a short time later Jack’s wife also became a U.S. citizen.

A short time later she became pregnant and he took her on base for doctor's visits. When it was almost time for the baby to be born the doctor on the base called them in for a meeting. He said having their child at this doctor’s office was not a good idea. They told him that he should take a couple weeks leave and take her to a U.S. Army base in France, and he did. The child, a boy, was born in a U.S. Army hospital in France. His birth records read U.S. Citizen born in France.

A short time later Jack’s time in the Army was almost up. Of course they spent time trying to get him to re-enlist. Jack felt he had no choice because he had no home or job to go back to so he re-enlisted. They asked him where he would like to be stationed and he said, “anywhere in America because I’ve never lived there.” Then for several years he was at Ft. Bragg N.C. About a year into being at Ft. Bragg they had their second child, another boy. His birth records read, U.S. Citizen born in North Carolina.

Then a few weeks later he was at home with his family and was thinking about it. He said to himself “I am a U.S. Citizen born in England. My wife is a U.S. Citizen born in Germany. My oldest son is a U.S. Citizen born in France, and my youngest son is a U.S. Citizen born in America”. Then he said to himself, “I feel like my living room is a meeting place for United Nations.” ❞
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Robert King
July 4, 2026

Image Source: 🇺🇸 Near the DMZ in 🇰🇷 (2002)