Military Personnel Take Oath of Citizenship From Flight Deck of USS Midway

A great story, at the Los Angeles Times, "On the Midway's deck, military personnel take oath of citizenship":

SAN DIEGO — After the ceremony was complete, after he had listened to the speeches and repeated the 141 words that made him a U.S. citizen, Marine Lance Cpl. Hua Fan admitted to being a bit overwhelmed.

"It's going to take a while before it settles in," said Fan, smiling broadly. The 23-year-old, who was born outside Beijing, added: "I've felt like a part of America for some time, but now I'm an official part."

It was a common sentiment among the 35 active duty U.S. military members from 19 countries and territories who took the oath of allegiance in a short but emotional ceremony Monday on the flight deck of the carrier museum Midway.

"It's been a dream of mine for a long time: to become a real American," said Marine Lance Cpl. Andre Baxter, 22, from Jamaica. "And now it's real."

The federal government has a program to expedite citizenship applications from military personnel. Three times each year — just before Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day — the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services holds naturalization ceremonies in San Diego strictly for members of the military.

Officials tailor their remarks to the specific holiday. In this case, it was a discussion of the early days of the American Revolution.

"Our nation was founded by young patriots like yourself," retired Rear Adm. Mac McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of the Midway Museum, told the gathering.