Su Tai-yuan (蘇泰元), a Taiwan-born seaman aboard the US aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, says he has joined the US navy because he wants to see the world and do something different.
Su, 22, is an airman aboard the Kitty Hawk -- the US navy's only carrier group permanently stationed overseas which left its Yokosuka home port in Japan in February and is now moored in the Persian Gulf amid a possible war to disarm Iraq.
"It's a different world. Sometimes it seems like being out here and being deployed, you're just far removed from the world. You make your own world here," Su said of his feelings about life aboard the war ship.
Su originally traveled from Taipei to the US to receive his high school education several years ago. He dropped out of a New Jersey university in his third year to join the US navy.
"I feel a bit of regret that I didn't finish the last year of my university studies. Otherwise, I think I would have a better career prospect in the military," Su said.
The US could be just days away from launching an attack against Iraq, but Su said he doesn't feel much anxiety. "We have been trained for war," he said
He said he has not been able to contact his father back in Taipei because he has not been on the carrier long enough to have a chance to contact him.
"I hope my father can read your report to know that I'm fine here," Su said with a smile.
Su is not the only foreign service member aboard the Kitty Hawk. As a matter of fact, many of the sailors who would take this US naval ship to war against Iraq are not Americans.
The Japanese-based aircraft carrier has a high percentage of non-Americans, particularly Asians, among its crew.
Nationals of virtually any country can join the US navy but only US citizens can receive the security clearances required for some jobs. There are even Chinese nationals aboard the Kitty Hawk.
RSS