As a naturalized U.S. citizen and retired military, it always brings back fond memories when I see or read about our military taking the oath of U.S. citizenship.
I took my oath in front of a judge in Houston, Texas, more than 50 years ago and the memory is still vivid.
How about taking the oath to become a citizen of the greatest country in the world from the President of that country himself?
That is exactly what 13 service members did today at the White House along with 15 others representing a total of 26 countries.
While the full list of the service members, their ranks and affiliations has not been made available yet, we know where two of the service members come from because the president singled them out by name in his remarks.
They are Nikita Kirichenko from Ukraine and Elrina Brits from South Africa.
The president had words for each of them
About Kirichenko who came to the United States at age 11, the president said. “His mother saw America as the one place on Earth where her son could do anything he wanted,” he added. “And a few years ago, Nikita decided that he wanted to join the Air Force so that, in his words, ‘I could give back to a country that took me in and gave me a better life.’
“Thank you, Nikita,” Obama continued. “Today, we proudly salute him not just as a member of our military, but also as a citizen of our country.”
About Brits who grew up in Washington State, the president said, “When Elrina decided to join the Navy, somebody told her that she wouldn’t be able to cut it,” he added. “But even though she wasn’t yet American on paper, she had that American quality of being defiant when somebody says you can’t do something, so she proved them wrong.”
This is some of what the President had to say about all of them:
We are so proud of everybody here. In each of you, we see the true spirit of America. And we see a bit of ourselves, too, because most of our stories trace back to moments just like this one. To an ancestor who -– just like the men and women here today –- raised their right hand and recited that sacred oath.
And the point is that unless you are one of the first Americans, unless you are a Native American, you came from someplace else. That’s why we’ve always defined ourselves as a nation of immigrants. And we’ve always been better off for it. The promise we see in those who come from all over the world is one of our greatest strengths. It’s kept our workforce young. It keeps our businesses on the cutting edge. It’s helped to build the greatest economic engine that the world has ever known.
He talked more about immigration in general as part of his drive for new immigration legislation.
“Immigration makes us stronger,” the President said. “And if we want to keep attracting the best and the brightest that the world has to offer, then we need to do a better job of welcoming them.”
“After avoiding the problem for years, the time has come to fix it once and for all,” he said. “The time has come for a comprehensive, sensible immigration reform”
No other country on Earth welcomes as many new arrivals as we do, he said. “And as long as the promise of America endures, as long as we continue to stand tall as a beacon of hope and opportunity, then the world’s hardest workers, the hungriest entrepreneurs, the men and women who are willing to make enormous sacrifices to get a better life — not just for themselves but for their children and their grandchildren, they’re going to keep on coming.”
Sources: American Forces Press Service and The White House
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The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.