Servicemembers Swearing In Occurs In Mass Ceremony
There was a ceremony held in Iraq on November 4th, election day, swearing in 186 US Servicemembers into US Citizenship. The Ceremony was held at the Al Faw Palace. General Ray Odiermo, the commanding General of MNF Forces, Iraq presided over the ceremony and expressed his appreciation for the sworn service that the members of the military perform on a ongoing basis.
The ceremony was the 12th of its kind since the beginning of the War on Terror, and it was a ceremony for special meaning for many of the Servicemembers because it took place on election day.
The newly sworn in US naturalized citizens were from 60 different countries, and were all sworn US Servicemembers. With the swearing in, the 186 Servicemembers gained the right to vote and full US Citizens rights.
For each and every Servicemember that was sworn it it was a chance of a lifetime but not one that mere words could sum up. Most of the Servicemembers had been in the service for a number of years, serving in the US military, but the ceremony gives them each the right to be US citizens in name as well as in essence.
Each of the Servicemembers has earned the right to be a US Citizen, and the opportunity to be sworn in as part of an en mass ceremony is an opportunity that does not present itself very often, and it will be part of a lifelong memory that will be unforgettable.
