Recently while I was at the gym, an older white man asked me if I was now carrying my passport because of President Donald J. Trump’s recent statements and actions regarding people of color.
The man at the gym was asking this because of my Hispanic ethnicity and physical appearance. I explained to him that anyone who would ask me for a passport based on these attributes is simply ignorant of what really makes our country great, and why I don't feel the need to carry a passport in the United States of America.
What this man did not know is that when Trump was seeking a medical draft deferment for bone spurs in 1968, I was serving as a volunteer in the U.S. Army during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Shouldn't this service qualify me as a citizen of this country?
Also, I was born in New Mexico, not Mexico.
There were many U.S. soldiers serving in Vietnam, just like they serve in our wars today. A quick survey of Medal of Honor winners will highlight one of the great contributions that people of color have made to this country. Americans should understand their history before asking for passports.
Luciano S. Martinez, Murray