Because I did! : On a beautiful sunny Independence Day, there was much joy in the DaleD household, as someone very close to our family took the oath of citizenship. The ceremony was held outdoors, on the grounds of a specific site of historic significance, on a grassy field, beneath a tent, surrounded by various 4th of July festivities. We were there for about 3 hours, and the ceremony itself took about 90 minutes. More details and comments to follow! Also, any congratulations and/or good wishes posted in this thread will be conveyed to the person who naturalized today. And you want some Red Room content? Well, there were lots of dark-skinned people sworn in as US citizens. How does that make you feel?
Thankfully, I did not. Not that I don't support such ceremonies. I just hate having to cover them. The oath is so short that it's hard to get a variety of shots.
OK, so more details. As mentioned to shootER, there was a reporter(ette) who was doing interviews. I saw her do two, each with a newly naturalized citizen sitting in the front row. Although, she may have done the interviews before the oath, so I don't know if they were technically citizens at that point. There was a color guard, with 3 Marines, and a Navy captain was present. The Navy captain appeared to be in a dress uniform(?), but the Marines were in battle fatigues(?). I know we have enough military people here who can educate me on the proper terms for the uniforms. All of the prospective citizens were seated in front of a stage. Family and friends not taking the oath were seated separately, off to each side. A local chorus sang the national anthem, and a couple of (minor) dignitaries made some remarks. Then, the big moment. Everyone stood, and the oath was given. There was a copy of the oath in the program, and the USCIS official leading the oath went slowly, giving everyone a chance to keep up. It's a long oath! Then a local USCIS official made some post-oath remarks, officially welcoming the new citizens. Everyone said the pledge of allegiance, and a recorded message of congratulations from President Bush was played. And then, the new citizens were asked to stand and wave the little American flags they had been given, as "Proud to Be an American" by Lee Greenwood was played. Is this customary? I think part of the reason was to provide an opportunity to capture video of the new citizens waving flags. Anyway, the whole Lee Greenwood bit was kind of a surprise to me. The colors were retired, everyone sang God Bless America (led by the same local singers who sang the national anthem). Then row-by-row, the new citizens were called up to be given their naturalization certificates. There were members of the Daughters of the American Revolution present congratulating the new citizens, which I thought was kind of . By far the largest nationality represented was India. I know this because people were asked to stand by country prior to the oath being given. There were apparently over 50 countries represented, including the UK, Germany, Ukraine, and tons of third-world nations. There were surprisingly few Mexicans. Overall, I thought the ceremony was absolutely wonderful, and it went off with nary a hitch that I could detect. What a great setting, and a great day to become a new citizen of the United States.
