Finally Becoming an American Soldier

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DE, UNITED STATES

01.15.2021

Story by Spc. Alyssa Lisenbe 

Delaware ARNG

For Cho, volunteering for this mission meant he would have to miss his naturalization ceremony which was scheduled to take place in Philadelphia that same month.

A Colorado congressman, after learning ab0ut this predicament through Cho’s chain of command, found a way to arrange a naturalization ceremony close by.

“I feel great that I get to become an American,” he said. “I’m so proud to be Korean and I’m proud to be American as well, and to be a part of the U.S. Army.”

Cho is originally from Busan, South Korea, and moved to Bear Delaware when he was in first grade.

Cho said his dad pushed for the military for his children and told them stories of his service in the Korean Army. So when Cho’s older brothers joined the U.S. Army, he decided to follow in their footsteps his senior year of high school.

Cho is now majoring in economics at the University of Delaware, where he is a member of the ROTC program.

“There are a lot of doors opening,” he said. “I can finally get contracted for ROTC and that’s what I am looking forward to the most.”

Cho said he didn’t want his parents to pay a dime for his education. Since he was ineligible for most college scholarships, Cho decided to join the National Guard to pay for college and it also helped him with his citizenship.

On Jan. 15, 2021, at the USCIS in Fairfax, Virginia, not far from the U.S. Capitol building he was volunteering to protect, Cho finally became an American soldier.

“Thank you to my parents for taking the chance and flying over here to give their children a better life,” he said. “To all my friends out there, I just want to say, thank you, because it’s hard being an immigrant and they just treated me like family.”

• Date Taken: 01.15.2021
• Date Posted: 12.30.2021 17:46
• Story ID: 412196
• Location: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DE, US