Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers become citizens of country they have pledged to defend

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. —They already vowed to serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values when they joined the Army — now 25 Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers can also call themselves U.S. citizens, after a naturalization ceremony Aug. 21 in the Engineer Regimental Room of the John B. Mahaffey Museum Complex.

The Directorate of Human Resources partnered with the Kansas City U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office to conduct the event for the new citizens.

Serving as the ceremony’s guest speaker was Col. Steven Bartley, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander.

“Today we are here to celebrate your journey to U.S. citizenship. Welcome to your new home,” Bartley said. “As you assemble here today, ready and willing to take your Oath of Allegiance, yours is already a story of service and commitment to a calling bigger than the individual. When you raised your hand and swore to support and defend our Constitution, you did so understanding the obligations and burdens that requires.”

He said along with sharing the obligations of U.S. Soldier, they now also share the benefits of U.S. citizen, “as our Constitution protects your liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and right to vote.”

During the ceremony, Fort Leonard Wood’s newest U.S. citizens — from 19 different countries as far away as Côte d'Ivoire and India — took the Oath of Allegiance, then proudly displayed their certificates of naturalization for their coworkers, friends and family in attendance.

Each Soldier stopped at the podium to briefly explain why they wanted to be an American.

Spc. Messan Kouvahe said he moved to America from Turkey to learn English and further his education.

“I felt like I owed something to this country. If this country were ever to go to war, I am ready to defend it,” Kouvahe said. “I am very proud I joined the Army and became a citizen.”

Spc. Prajyesh Yadav said he moved to the U.S. with his family to start a new life with more opportunities.

“I have always wanted to serve my homeland, and this is my homeland now. I cannot thank the U.S. Army enough for giving me this opportunity,” Yadav said.

Another new citizen, Pvt. Thomas Maccenat from Haiti, simply put his feelings at the moment into words by saying — “God bless America.”