Sofya Aptekar, TCCS Core Faculty
On November 11, currently recognized as Veterans’ Day in the United States, I attended a screening of Island Soldier at the DOC NYC film festival. Island Soldier presents the story of Kosraens – citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) – in the US military. Micronesians, who are not US citizens, enlist at high rates, and face a devastating lack of support and services after they leave the military.
Compact of Free Association
The Federated States of Micronesia is a group of small islands scattered over an immense territory northeast of Papua New Guinea. Micronesians have suffered under and resisted European colonialism for centuries. In the 20th century, Kosrae Island was colonized by Japan until the United States occupied it after WWII.
Under President Reagan in the 1980s, FSM gained independence, but remained connected to the United States through the Compact of Free Association. In exchange for US military control over FSM’s vast ocean territory, US would provide aid. Under the compact, FSM citizens can enlist in the US military.
“Leaving to fight with white people”
FSM has a higher number of Army recruits per capita than any US state. Impoverished by colonialism, islands like Kosrea offer few opportunities that can trump the $18,000 starting salary for a recruit. The average yearly income on Kosrea is about $2000, while staples and gasoline are much more expensive than in the US. An 18 year old enlistee makes more than the governor of the island.
In Island Soldier, we see Kosreans who are veterans of wars in Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. When they return home, they have no access to VA benefits. There is no GI Bill for education. There is no health care. There are no housing loans. Some veterans resort to paying for air fare to Guam or Hawaii (x hour flights) so they can access their health care benefits.
“We die for others.”
Island Soldier profiles Sapuro “Sapp” Nena, a young Kosrean who died in Afghanistan. His mother remembers Sapp’s inner turmoil over his work in Afghanistan. Looking at snapshots of Sapp with Afghani villagers, his mother recounts him telling her: “They say I am one of them. I look like them.” After his death, Sapp’s best friend, Mario Robles, raises money to come visit Kosrea and meet Sapp’s family in a wrenchingly emotional scene. FSM does not just hold the record for recruitment: it has lost five times more soldiers than the average for the US.
I was curious about Island Soldier because of my ongoing research project on immigrant soldiers in the US. Although the film does not grapple with these questions, the story of Micronesian soldiers is part of the larger story of the poverty draft. Across the US, there are communities with high levels of enlistment in the military, where the military is seen as the best career option for young people living in poverty. What makes Micronesian soldiers unique is that when they go home, the net of benefits that veterans are entitled to is missing. That makes them similar to another group of US veterans – those who have been deported to their countries of birth under the current crimmigration regime. While Micronesian soldiers can travel to the US to access some benefits, deported veterans are barred from returning for life.