posted November 11, 2004 08:47 PM            

Troops Become U.S. Citizens on Veterans Day
'This Is Our Next Greatest Generation'
By LAURA WIDES, AP

SAN DIEGO (Nov. 11) - Marine Cpl. David Antonio Garcia stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier Thursday and was sworn in as an American citizen - after already serving under the U.S. flag in Iraq.

The native of Mexico was among 80 sailors and Marines from 25 countries - from Canada to Syria - who became citizens in a Veterans Day ceremony aboard the USS Midway, a reward for putting their lives on the line for their adopted country.

The ceremony, watched by more than 100 cheering relatives, came as the nation observed Veterans Day with about 160,000 troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan - some of them locked in fierce house-to-house fighting in Fallujah.

"I wouldn't want to compare myself to World War veterans or Vietnam veterans," said Garcia, 21, who was with combat engineers who cleared the path for tanks to roll into Iraq. "But I feel some of what they must feel today. I know what it's like to leave loved ones and not to know if you will come back."

The citizenship ceremony was one of dozens of events held nationwide to celebrate Veterans Day, a holiday that has taken on added meaning in the last three years after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Veterans were honored Thursday at ceremonies big and small: an event recognizing a teenage Purple Heart recipient in South Carolina, a parade on the streets of Manhattan, a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony attended by President Bush.

The war in Iraq was a dominant theme at the ceremonies. There are about 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq; the American death toll stands at more than 1,140.

"Let no one tell you we aren't doing good things there," Army Col. Jill Morgenthalher, who recently returned from Iraq and earned a Bronze Star, said at a wreath-laying ceremony at Chicago's Soldier Field. "We are standing up for what is right. This is our next greatest generation."

At the ceremony aboard the USS Midway, U.S. District Judge William Hayes administered the oath of citizenship, noting that many of the troops were from countries that deny individual liberties and had left behind families who "cannot know what joy you are experiencing today."

"You as representatives of the armed forces know above all, like most citizens, that freedom is not free," Hayes said. "Thank you for your sacrifice."

Legal permanent residents of the United States had been allowed to join the military and seek citizenship after three years of active service. But in July 2002 President Bush signed an executive order allowing anyone on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001, to immediately apply for citizenship. There are about 31,000 non-citizens in the U.S. military.

On the other end of the country, dozens of veterans, some into their 80s, stood and applauded one of the nation's youngest Purple Heart recipients during a ceremony in North Charleston, S.C.

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Riccio, 19, who was born on the Fourth of July and wanted to be a soldier from childhood, was wounded in Iraq in June when shrapnel from a mortar round passed through his brain. He survived but only after a Navy corpsman held his head together on a 30-mile drive to a first aid station.

"I guess you could say I grew up quick," he said. "I was 18 years old, a gunner, a Humvee driver and engaged in firefights against insurgents in Fallujah."

In New York, thousands lined Fifth Avenue for a parade that has seen attendance surge in recent years. "Five or 10 years ago when I would come, there might be 200 or 300 people here," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "And now the whole street is full."

Illinois officials said dozens of schools received permission to stay open for the holiday, inviting veterans to join students in flag-raising ceremonies, question-and-answer sessions, and the singing of patriotic songs. More than a quarter of schools sought to waive the holiday, up considerably from five years ago.

Wayne Miller, commander of a VFW Post outside Chicago, said attending school on Veterans Day will help children "understand it's more than just getting a day off and prancing around."

In Arkansas, about 60 elementary students attended a ceremony and presented veterans with a handmade card, with one girl telling a vet: "You're my hero."

"You can walk down the streets or be in your house and know you're not going to get hurt because they're there (in Iraq)," said 10-year-old Sarah Burns. "We need to think more about our veterans than we do because we don't honor them as much as we should."