Celebrating Veterans: An Asian American Perspective (#4)
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The Asian-American identity is a complex one. Despite the fact that many of us can trace our lineage in the United States back several hundred years, we are still seen as perpetual foreigners, enduring the occasional micro-aggressions of “your English is so good” or “where are you really from?” In honor of Veteran’s Day, we sat down with Asian-American veteran Daniel Lin* to shine a light on mental health after service and give some encouragement to Asian-American military personnel everywhere.
For those considering joining the military, hopefully this gives some insight regarding the experience as a whole. Daniel’s journey might look significantly different from veterans who have been deployed, but the message of persistence and acceptance remains the same. *Name changed for anonymity
Q: What’s your age, duration of service, and final rank?
A: I’m currently 23, served in the army for 3 years and 21 weeks, and achieved E4 rank.
Q: How did you join the army?
A: I was about to go to community college when my parents encouraged me to look into joining the army. Since I was not super confident about what I wanted to study, the army seemed like a good place to make myself better.
Q: What was your experience like within the army?
A: There were ups and downs, but that’s just how life is. Most of it was a really good experience. As a culinary specialist, I got to attend cooking competitions and enjoyed some other opportunities that you don’t get as a civilian. There’s a chain of command just like real life, although it’s tougher than real life in some sense because you are not entitled to your own freedom. Especially if you’re lower on the totem pole, you have to do the things that other people don’t want to do. We sacrifice our own freedom to fight for other people’s.
Q: Were there any privileges that you enjoyed? Discriminations that you encountered?
A: I was very lucky to have new barracks and that everything I needed was available on base. I also was never deployed, so some might view that as a privilege. People are going to be racist no matter where you go. Even if they don’t show it, you can just tell with some of the leadership that they have favorites, not just with race, but gender as well.
Q: How did being in the army affect your mental health?
A: I have depression now. I don’t know if it’s because I was in the army, but not being able to make your own choices kind of sucks. Even if you have a voice it doesn’t matter, because if someone higher issues a command, you better do it. You also can’t be too nice. I mean, you can be nice, but all of the nice people that I know are all super buff. You can be buff and nice or small and mean as f*ck. It definitely made me stronger.
Q: What’s it like being a veteran?
A: Honestly, the hardest thing about being a veteran is just how long everything takes for certain things to get done with the VA. The brotherhood that gets established through military service is pretty great; when I walk into any veteran’s office, I feel an automatic connection with the other veterans, like I get to belong already. Also, the GI Bill has been phenomenal. Without the GI Bill benefits, I probably would not have gone into the military, and now that I get to use these benefits, it has proven even better than I originally thought.
Q: Would you recommend other Asian-Americans to go into the military?
A: Totally. You get great school benefits, it gives you stronger character, and it was an overall good experience for me.
No matter where you are at with your mental health, there is always hope, always something else to hold onto, always something greater than just the individual. Comparing and minimizing our contributions – regardless how small – only makes it harder to celebrate growth, let alone hold ourselves accountable for our misgivings along the way. On this Veteran’s Day, I am grateful for the sacrifices made by active, reserve, and veteran military persons. You created the nation that I am glad to hold as part of my identity.