With Veterans Day just one sunrise away, I find myself looking back on my service. When I was nineteen, I joined the Air Force. Vietnam was not going well, Vietnam veterans were not fondly looked upon, as though the war were their fault. Yet, I joined the military. I did it with pride, with a joy in my heart, that I was giving back to the nation that I had grown up only visiting. You see, I wasn't born and raised in the United States of America. I was born in Gorgas Hospital, Ancon, Canal Zone, as US territory. Both of my parents were from the US, but had been living in the Zone for years. It was their true home, as neither of them had lived in the US long enough to be that attached to home. Home is where you grow up.

I grew up in the Land of Eternal Summer, a known tropical paradise. Yet, I knew that there was always trouble in paradise. Didn't bother me, well, except when things were really tense. For me, it was beaches, jungles, motorcycles, theater, music and fun. It was home. It was here that I developed a very finely tuned sense of patriotism. Not the average flag waving variety, but one of those deep convictions. I watched the military daily. I grew up around them, even though my father was no longer active duty. He worked for the Panama Canal Company. I remember waking up to the sound of tanks moving past my bedroom window. We would all wake up, go out on the porch and wave as they went by. These were the men who would put themselves between us and any harm that might come our way. The military was loved in the Zone, at least by everyone I knew.

We watched all the parades, Fourth of July, Panamanian Independence Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, all of them. We cheered as the troops marched by, sharp in their uniforms. We cheered when the bands marched by. We also cheered with the Bomberos, the fireman in Panama City, Panama, marched by, as they were always part of the celebrations. The Shriners' funny cars, stuffed full of more people than realistically possible. The Pipe and Drum Corps of the local Scottish contingent. All of them. They were our pride and joy. And we celebrated with them. Many of the military were friends of ours through theater, through music, through many of the organizations of which we were members.

Then, I graduated and moved to the United States. I was repatriated to a country that I had visited exactly three times in 18 years. It was scary, but it was also an adventure. After finding it difficult for someone straight out of high school to get a decent job, I enlisted in the Air Force. I loved it. Basic training was a blast. It was discipline. It was long hours, but it was also fun. After tech school, where I learned the basics of aircraft fuel systems mechanics, I was stationed in Arizona.

Would I do it again? In a heart beat! Was I always treated wonderfully by the guys with whom I worked? Nope, and complaining didn't help, just made it worse. But I was doing something that needed to be done. I was serving my country and I will never regret that, as long as I live.