Love / How do you approach marriage to Polish men ? [9]

Hello, I am an American lady and my boyfriend is polish. We have been seeing each other for 1 1/2 years and now live together. He has been in ths states since he was 8 and is now 23. He is a citizen.I love him more than anything and really want us to think about getting married. He has never told me he loves me but his actions and the way he has let me into his life lets me know he does care for me. He is very reserved when it comes to talking about feelings and emotions. His mother spent a week with us last summer and we got along very well. She seemed to be okay with my not being polish. I dont know the language but his english is better than most Americans. He is in the Army and may have to deploy for a year, I would really like to get married before then. Do polish men take pride in being the one who proposes or is it okay for the girl to mention it? He is coming home next week from a trip and i really want to talk to him about it but am not sure how.