America's Immigrant Soldiers

Tens of thousands of men and women joined the U.S. military without U.S. citizenship in the emotional aftermath of 9-11. Despite their numbers, little is known about America's non-citizen soldiers.

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From Townhall Magazine's EXCLUSIVE October feature "America's Immigrant Soldiers":

Peter Kuch had just begun a new job doing data enry for a telecommunications production company in Syracuse, N.Y. As news of the 9/11 attacks broke, Kuch felt the same sequence of emotions that struck thousands of other young men and women in America: disbelief, anger, and grief -- followed by a sudden determination to enlist in the military.

But, in one important way, Kuch was unlike many of those inspired to join the U.S. military in the wake of the attacks. When he later joined the Army, Kuch, like all new soldiers, recited the military's Oath of Enlistment -- only when Kuch swore to "bear true faith and allegiance," as the oath prescribes, it was to a country that was not yet his own.

Kuch is a native of Sudan. He arrived in America for the first time only a few weeks before 9/11. But that did not stop the emotions from welling up as he watched television coverage of the attacks.

"I was extremely mad," Kuch recalls to author Dan Allot when they first met in 2008. "Having been forced to leave my country, which had been taken over and ruled by Islamic radials who slaughtered my people and separated me from my family, I couldn't believe what was happening."

-- how Kuch went from losing everything in Sudan to being a member of the U.S. military

-- the background of non-citizens serving in the U.S. military

-- their inspiring sense of gratitude to the United States

-- meet another immigrant soldier, now-U.S. citizen Sgt. 1st class Ramel Turic, awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic actions