Wednesday, November 10, 2010

They became citizens just in time for Vets Day

Hagen for News Coast Guard member Kwame Robertson, US Marine Jeremy John, and Army National Guard member Akhtar Harrison, were sworn in as American citizens just in time for Veterans Day. Three new citizens sworn in Wednesday served their country even before they could call themselves Americans. "It feels like becoming a new person," said Marine Corps reservist - and Barbadian immigrant - Jeremy John , 21. He was one of a trio of immigrants with U.S. military experience who were among 76 new citizens sworn in at Federal Hall on Wall St. - just in time for Veterans Day . The diverse group cheered and waved flags in the rotunda of the building where George Washington was sworn in as the country's first President. Noncitizens who live legally in the U.S. can enlist in the military and are offered expedited paths to citizenship. John emigrated from Barbados to attend Baruch College , where he is studying accounting. He hopes to one day work for the IRS or FBI . He said boot camp was his favorite military experience. "It shows you can go beyond what you normally can do," said John, who lives with his father in East New York , Brooklyn . "You can go even further - I think that's what the American Dream is about." Akhtar Harrison-Lewis , a combat medic in the Army National Guard , was inspired to sign up by a classmate. "He said it's a bigger goal than doing something just for yourself," Harrison-Lewis, 26, said. "As soon as I put on the uniform it was a very emotional moment - to give back, to serve." Harrison-Lewis came to New York from Trinidad and Tobago at age 16 to live with aunts. She now lives with her husband in Jamaica, Queens , and is studying for a teaching degree at York College . Citizenship will allow her to enroll in the ROTC and pursue becoming an officer. "That's my next step," she said. Kwame Robertson completed four years of active duty in the Coast Guard as a health service technician in 2003. "I saw the world - it was a beautiful thing," he said. Robertson, 31, a concierge at a midtown building who lives in Bushwick , Brooklyn, came from Guyana at age 3 with his parents and seven siblings. "I always felt like an American," he said, "but now it's official." bpaddock@nydailynews.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe .




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They became citizens just in time for Vets Day

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