A plastic Halloween lantern threw a faint light into the lounge of the spinal cord injury unit, just to the right of the Green Card Marines. Speaking from one side of his paralyzed mouth and face, Lance Cpl. Henry “Kiki” Maldonado asked his buddy, Cpl. Enrique Villa, to help explain what happened on a road outside of al-Fallujah.

“I don’t remember nothing about the attack,” Maldonado said. “Two weeks later, I woke up looking for my gear, like it just happened, and then I see I’m in a hospital bed with needles in my arms.”

His mother, Maria Belen Galvan, nodded. She mostly listened during my visit to the veterans hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.

One day in early September, Maldonado was sitting in the bed of an armored, 2-ton truck patrolling the outskirts of the rebellious city. Villa rode in the following truck.

“I saw a car pass us and pull up next to his truck,” Villa said. “And then I saw the explosion.”

Seven Marines and four Iraqi soldiers died instantly. Villa found Maldonado unconscious. He probably survived because he took a seat on the passenger side, away from the suicide bomber. But his head was exposed enough for the blast to rupture both ear drums, cause nerve damage to his face and destroy his spleen. The heat melted the fingers of his right hand together.

There are 37,000 immigrants serving in the military. Most are Latino. Though numbers are hard to get for the occupation, 10 were killed during the short war that ended 18 months ago. Their willingness to serve has prompted Congress to streamline the citizenship process for foreign-born soldiers. This is nothing new. The country has a long and proud history of granting citizenship to immigrants, indentured servants and slaves who put their lives on the front lines.

I asked Maldonado and Villa why they had enlisted.

“I did it to get better at life,” he said. After dropping out of high school, then earning a degree in adult school, he became bored with dead-end jobs. “I needed a challenge, something new. Combat does that for you.”

He signed up three years ago at the same recruiting station in East San Jose as Enrique Villa. They met in boot camp and were eventually assigned to the 1st Marine Division, which helped lead the invasion.

“Coming out of high school not knowing what to do, hearing about the Marines and the help for college and citizenship,” Villa said, “Basically, for the college money.”

Two years ago, I visited military recruiting stations and heard much the same. Young Americans and non-citizens join mostly for personal growth or college money, or both. The promise of citizenship appeals to immigrant enlistees.

“Patriotism?” Maldonado asked without my asking first. “That comes later in boot camp.”

Villa agreed. “Even your family becomes more patriotic. My dad was against me joining the military, but after he became all patriotic.”

There surely are immigrant soldiers who talk first and foremost about love and duty to their adopted America. There are some who feel tricked into fighting a bad war. But anyone who spends some time with military people, especially Marines, cannot deny the fanatical brotherhood and pride that motivates them more than anything, including patriotism.

I asked Maldonado how he felt about the missing weapons of mass destruction.

“I don’t care about that,” he said. “I’m not saying it was a bad idea to go there, but when you sign up in the military you sign up to kill people. We didn’t find weapons of mass destruction, but we did find terrorists.”

They each have one year left in their enlistments. Villa would rather attend college but acknowledges he’ll probably be sent back to Iraq.

Maldonado’s future is uncertain. He spends a lot of time thinking, doing therapeutic facial exercises, and waiting for doctors’ reports.

“I get a little depressed sometimes,” he said. “I just want to know what I can do after this.”

Finally speaking, his mother said in Spanish, “The doctors told me you will never return to Iraq. Your injuries are too severe.”

Maldonado shrugged.

“I would like to stay in the Marines. Maybe a job in an office or something, but we’ll have to wait and see.”