The United States as a Responsible Member of the Global Community: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness When Globalized Militarization Matters

Abstract

It has been almost ten years since I first visited Rainbow Center, a New York City-based nonprofit organization for ex-US military brides from South Korea who used to work in the sex industry for American military servicemen. I still remember the conversation that I had with Jenny (pseudonym) and Reverend Henna Han, the founder of the center. After having divorced her violent and alcoholic husband, a former American GI in Korea, Jenny, a drug addict at that time, walked into the Rainbow Center. “She looked like a hobo” said Rev. Han. “I asked her why she came here. She said, ‘I want to live life like other people do.’ So, I asked her back, ‘What do you mean?’ Then, Jenny looked at me as if she couldn’t believe my question. She said, ‘You are a pastor and do not know what it means to live life? I want to eat when other people eat. I want to go to bed at night when other people sleep, go to work in the morning when other people do. Everyone, even a woman like myself, has the right to live.” As Rev. Henna Han recalled her first meeting with Jenny, Jenny was smiling and saying, “Thanks to Rainbow Center, I was able to live like other people do. I overcame drug addiction and now have a job good enough to support myself.”