Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Michele Hunt | Lance Cpl. Maribel Mendoza, (left), and Lance Cpl. Biancesca Rivera display their...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Five members of 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) recited the Pledge of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony that granted the service members their citizenship to the United States of America at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Feb. 10.
Corporal Miguel Aliaga and Lance Cpls. Luis Luna, Erick Mayora Garcia, Maribel Mendoza, and Biancesca Rivera each raised their right hand to declare an oath to support and defend the Constitution and to denounce any allegiance to their previous citizenship.
Being a citizen of the United States is the first step toward the American dream. However, for those service members who have already sacrificed years of their lives fighting for the red, white, and blue, obtaining citizenship while deployed to a combat zone holds a deeper meaning.
“I’m wearing the uniform already,” said Luna, a heavy equipment operator with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd MLG (Fwd). “I might as well be fighting for a country that I am actually a part of.”
Each of the 36 service members, from 17 different countries, had their own reasons for enlisting.
Rivera, a 19-year-old warehouse clerk with General Support Motor Transportation Company, 2nd Supply Battalion, 2nd MLG (FWD), said the challenge of the Marine Corps is what motivated her to join.
“The Corps is mostly males, and as a female, you have to prove yourself every day,” said Rivera, originally from Peru. “Being away from my family is also a great challenge.”
For others, the decision to enlist was a path to success. Aliaga, 24, moved from Peru to Pennsylvania with his family as a teenager. He said he needed a lifestyle change and felt the military could fulfill it.
“I wanted to join the greatest fighting force in America, and I wanted to make a difference,” said Aliaga, a motor transport mechanic with 2nd Supply Bn., GSMT, 2nd MLG (FWD). “My family is very happy and very proud.”
Mendoza’s family moved from Mexico to Georgia when she was three. Through the applications, testing, and citizenship interviews, Mendoza didn’t tell her family that she was approved. She said she wanted to surprise them and called home to share the news shortly after receiving her certificate.
“I am the first one in my family to join the military and the first to become a U.S. citizen,” said Mendoza, 20, a warehouse clerk with GSMT Co., 2nd Supply Bn., 2nd MLG (Fwd).
The final words of the ceremony were given during a pre-videotaped speech by President Barrack Obama.
“It is an honor and a privilege to call you a fellow citizen of the United States of America,” said Obama.
During the speech, the president went on to thank the service members for their continued service to the country and encouraged them to take advantage of all rights earned as citizens, however, no words could match the pride that each member felt after taking their oath.
“I am proud to be an American,” said Luna. “I am proud to be from a country that is free.”
| Date Taken: | 02.10.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.17.2012 01:51 |
| Story ID: | 83987 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 361 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Naturalization ceremony gives deployed MLG Marines citizenship, by GySgt Michele Hunt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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