Multi-National Division Baghdad

Story by Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe

By Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe
Multi-National Division - Baghdad

BAGHDAD – The central rotunda of the Al Faw Palace was filled with two types of people on, Sept. 1, 2008. Those on the outside of the pillars were a frenzy of movement and flashing cameras. The people in the center, seated in neat rows, were a contrast of stillness. They looked, by varying degrees, to be calm, nervous and happy – and often all three at once. Some chatted quietly with the person next to them, while others seemed more introspective, their gaze drawn inward, perhaps thinking about what steps had led them to this moment.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commanding general of Multi-National Corps – Iraq, presided over a naturalization ceremony in which more than 190 Soldiers from across Iraq were sworn in as United States citizens, an event one 4th Infantry Division Soldier in particular said he had been waiting years for.

Sgt. Paul Sowu, of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Division Special Troops Battalion, 4th Inf. Div., Multi-National Division – Baghdad, has been waiting six years to become an American citizen.

He began the process in 2002, two years before he joined the Army. He left his native Ghana in 1997 to go to college in the United States. He said he liked what he saw and experienced in his college years and made the decision to become an American.

"Everything it stands for – Freedom – Opportunity – Being anything you want if you put your mind to it – Equality," he declared, when speaking about why he wanted to become a citizen.

In those six years of trying to become a citizen, his biggest hurdle was his deployments.

"This is my second tour," he said. "Last time I deployed, it took forever to get all the pieces of my packet together. It was hard to make phone calls and send faxes."

This second tour has not proved any easier on his naturalization process.

"Two months ago, I was told this was going to happen, " he said as he waved his hand to indicate the set up of chairs, photographers' flashes going off and people milling around after the ceremony. "I was told my name was on the list, but that my packet was missing."

He and his unit contacted Rome where his packet was being processed, and three hours later a scanned copy of his paperwork was sent to the DSTB personnel section.

"I don't care if it was a photocopy, I am official," he said with a big smile.

One of his DSTB Soldiers, Sgt. Shane Soriano, who works for the personnel section, HHC, DSTB, 4th Inf. Div., said his path to citizenship proved to be less complicated than Sowu's.

"It was an easy process for me," said Soriano, adding that the entire process took him only two months.

Having moved to the United States in 2003 from the Philippines, Soriano said he had few problems with his paperwork because he was able to draw upon his knowledge from working in the personnel section to correctly fill out his citizenship paperwork.

Spc. Edwin Lambey, who works in the motor pool of HHC, started the naturalization process in January and also had a fairly easy time.

"I had to wait for my packet to be processed, and then I had to wait for my interview date," he said with a smile while reflecting on the quick timing of his process.

"Two days ago," declared the former Belize native, now living in Chicago, with an even bigger grin.
Sowu said he was glad that they made a "big deal" out of the ceremony, even though he was a little nervous, because it marked a special occasion for him and his fellow participants.

His lips turned up in a wide grin that animated his face as he talked about how he feels now that it was all behind him – and that he is now an American.

"I can't explain it," he said, as one of the United States' newest citizens. "I feel on top of the world."

Associated Images

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