Serving America's 'Muslim Army'

I didn't know any English, but I was always interested in the military - as I grew up during the Yom Kippur war of 1973. That environment made Egyptians feel patriotic, nationalistic. It was about caring for your nation, serving your nation. When I was in Egypt, that was Egypt. But when I came to the US, I realised this is my country now. My father didn't want me to join the military - not because he thought the military was bad, but because he thought I was going to be a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer. After 9/11, my uncle, who had worked for a large car manufacturer for over 30 years, called me crying - saying 'please send me a picture of you in uniform; I need to prove my patriotism to my fellow workers.' I was out with a couple of my marines, and a woman came up to say 'I want to thank you for serving our country, especially at this time.' Then she asked me where I was from. When I said, 'Egypt', she had this look on her face and she said, 'you're a terrorist.' And that was in a Marine Corp uniform. I cussed her out - I called her every name under the sun. I'm an American too - how dare she tell me I was something different. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6230498.stm Published: 2007/06/23 11:13:33 GMT

Note: http://news.bbc.co.uk/g...