Members of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division pledge allegiance to the United States of America after receiving the oath of citizenship. Within days, many shipped out to Iraq or Afghanistan to serve their country.

At Fort Drum in upstate New York, thirty miles from the Canadian border, a group of U.S. Army infantry soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division raise their right hands before Magistrate Judge George Lowe (N.D. NY), ready to become the newest citizens of the United States. They are thousands of miles from the countries of their births—India, the Philippines, Poland, Guyana, Mexico, Haiti, and Ethiopia. Today, they’ll become U.S. citizens. Tomorrow or next week, they will be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Their division holds the distinction of being the most deployed division in the Army.

“The Oath of Allegiance that the soldiers take, as do all candidates for citizenship,” said Lowe, “includes commitments to ‘support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic’ and ‘to bear arms on behalf of the United States.’ To civilians, these might merely be words. But for these soldiers, the words are the immediate reality. What a wonderful testament by these courageous young men and women.”

Judge Jeanne E. Scott presides over a naturalization ceremony in the Central District of Illinois held in Springfield's Old State Capitol Building where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “A House Divided” speech.

In the Central District of Illinois, Judge Jeanne E. Scott is standing in the very spot where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “A House Divided” speech in Springfield’s Old State Capitol building. In the Hall of Representatives where she presides over a naturalization ceremony, a portrait of George Washington looks down on the proceedings as it did in Lincoln’s day. The Sangamon County Bar Association Lawyers Chorus will soon sing a medley of patriotic songs. A U.S. Congressman will speak and, later, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) will pass out miniature flags, cookies and punch. But right now, Clerk of Court Pam Robinson is administering the oath of allegiance to nearly 100 candidates for citizenship, including several generations within families.