I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments; my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader.

This commitment to equality and justice for all are the ideals that our country was founded upon and what we continue to aspire to as people. We cannot be complacent, and must vigilantly affirm this again and again, as bigotry and hatred have an insidious way of seeping into our society.

I believe we can make progress on bringing true equality and fairness back to our government if we continue to work together and make our voices heard.

I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments; my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader.

I am a very firm believer in the Aloha spirit - respect and love for everyone, irrespective of their religion, race, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

In the military, I learned that 'leadership' means raising your hand and volunteering for the tough, important assignments.

When a person thinks, I am a Christian, this other person is a Muslim, therefore he is my enemy, or I am a Muslim, this other person is a Hindu, therefore she is my enemy, they reveal their own lack of spiritual depth. No religion teaches this, and any understanding of any religion that adopts this divisive attitude proves itself false by doing so.

Sadly, the system in this country is rigged in favor of wealthy elites who have purchased tremendous influence in our government.

Growing up here in Hawaii, I loved swimming, surfing, and having fun in this paradise we are lucky to call home. But I gradually realized that I was actually happiest when I was doing things for other people, doing things to protect our water, oceans, and beaches.

When I deployed to Iraq with my fellow soldiers, putting our lives on the line for our country, no one in the media questioned our patriotism because of our religion.