I'll admit, I have a patriot complex. If someone ever said anything bad about my country I would be the first one to put them down, whether it be with words or with my fist. But regardless of my patriotic fervor, my decision to serve in the U.S. military has been with me ever since I learned of the word "debt". Ever since I was born I was in the Philippines, I was in debt, but not financially. What was owed was my life. I was born in the Philippines, but since my father, also a Filipino, was serving in the American Navy, I was born an American Citizen. I got to live as an American Citizen, and not like the children of the Philippines, many struggling on a day to day basis.

I was given a chance to live in one of the world's greatest powers (well technically in their bases around the pacific e.g. Japan, Guam, California) and grew up with little knowledge of my Filipino heritage. And I'm fine with that. My parents bug me to learn Tagalog, to eat Filipino food, to understand out customs. They even prefer if I became a doctor in the Philippines. But no, even though I am also a citizen of the Philippines, the Philippines is not my country. Nor do I want it to be. I absolutely despise the Filipino blood that runs through my veins and embrace the small one-eighth American Caucasian that does. My allegiance goes to the United States of America.

Now I am in the JROTC program, enriching myself further in my country's military history. In truth, I'm not a big fan of war, people would classify me as a dove instead of a hawk. I would absolutely love world peace. But despite my preferences, I have a debt to pay to America, and whether this debt is to be settled with distinguished service or my life on the battlefield, I really couldn't care less.