Eagle3
11-14-05, 07:39 AM
By Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 12, 2005
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Bundeson took a bullet for America last year while his Marine unit fought insurgents in Ramadi, Iraq.
Now he can cast a ballot as well.
Bundeson, a native of the Philippines who grew up in Oregon, took the oath of citizenship during the second annual Veterans Day ceremony on the aircraft carrier Midway.
About 110 other foreign-born service members from the San Diego area joined him on the rain-spattered flight deck.
"I've always wanted to be (a citizen). I believe it was way overdue," said Bundeson, 26, a medical corpsman with the 1st Marine Division. He wore a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with valor on his chest.
"I'm proud to be an American citizen," Bundeson said. "I think to fight for this country, you ought to be."
The new citizens represented 29 countries; the largest numbers came from Mexico and the Philippines. They joined nearly 37,000 service members who have taken advantage of rules issued after Sept. 11, 2001, that shorten the time foreigners must serve before they may become U.S. citizens.
................
One of the new citizens, Petty Officer 2nd Class Fernanda San Martin, 25, knows well about the sacrifices of service.
San Martin, a native of Mexico, was at work as a hospital corpsman at the Arlington Navy Annex on Sept. 11, 2001. She was watching TV reports of terrorists who crashed hijacked airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Then she and her colleagues heard the roar of aircraft engines barely overhead. The whole building shook. They raced outside their hilltop compound to see smoke and flames from American Airlines Flight 77 billowing out of the Pentagon less than a mile away.
San Martin scrambled to pull victims out of the rubble before working with others to set up an aid station in the Pentagon parking lot. That day, she helped treat more than two dozen patients.
"It was a little scary, but we reacted," said San Martin, of the Marine Wing Support Squadron at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
She would go on to serve two tours with Marine units in Iraq. Her war experience convinced her to become a U.S. citizen.
In September, she re-enlisted. "If I'm going to fight," San Martin said, "I wanted to vote for the president I'm going to fight for." Now she will get the chance.
Complete Article (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20051112-9999-7m12citizen.html)
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 12, 2005
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Bundeson took a bullet for America last year while his Marine unit fought insurgents in Ramadi, Iraq.
Now he can cast a ballot as well.
Bundeson, a native of the Philippines who grew up in Oregon, took the oath of citizenship during the second annual Veterans Day ceremony on the aircraft carrier Midway.
About 110 other foreign-born service members from the San Diego area joined him on the rain-spattered flight deck.
"I've always wanted to be (a citizen). I believe it was way overdue," said Bundeson, 26, a medical corpsman with the 1st Marine Division. He wore a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with valor on his chest.
"I'm proud to be an American citizen," Bundeson said. "I think to fight for this country, you ought to be."
The new citizens represented 29 countries; the largest numbers came from Mexico and the Philippines. They joined nearly 37,000 service members who have taken advantage of rules issued after Sept. 11, 2001, that shorten the time foreigners must serve before they may become U.S. citizens.
................
One of the new citizens, Petty Officer 2nd Class Fernanda San Martin, 25, knows well about the sacrifices of service.
San Martin, a native of Mexico, was at work as a hospital corpsman at the Arlington Navy Annex on Sept. 11, 2001. She was watching TV reports of terrorists who crashed hijacked airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Then she and her colleagues heard the roar of aircraft engines barely overhead. The whole building shook. They raced outside their hilltop compound to see smoke and flames from American Airlines Flight 77 billowing out of the Pentagon less than a mile away.
San Martin scrambled to pull victims out of the rubble before working with others to set up an aid station in the Pentagon parking lot. That day, she helped treat more than two dozen patients.
"It was a little scary, but we reacted," said San Martin, of the Marine Wing Support Squadron at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
She would go on to serve two tours with Marine units in Iraq. Her war experience convinced her to become a U.S. citizen.
In September, she re-enlisted. "If I'm going to fight," San Martin said, "I wanted to vote for the president I'm going to fight for." Now she will get the chance.
Complete Article (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20051112-9999-7m12citizen.html)