Vet Becomes Citizen 41 Years After War

EL PASO, Texas -- Jesus Gonzalez became an American citizen Wednesday -- 41 years after being wounded in Vietnam while fighting as a U.S. Marine.

Gonzalez stood with 647 other applicants from 45 countries at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. With families and friends behind them, they recited the Oath of Allegiance together.

"Today, we're here for a happy occasion," said U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Mesa, who most days handles civil lawsuits and criminal cases.

Gonzalez, 64, said he never felt a need to become a citizen before this year. His motivation, he said, was a desire to finally vote.

He received a permanent United States passport at age 8 in 1953, and said he'd always felt a strong sense of patriotism. His only memory of his native Mexico, he said, was of playing on some railroad tracks.

By 1965, he faced a decision -- enlist in the Marine Corps or go back to Mexico. He served in the Marines for three years, attained the rank of corporal and spent 24 months in Vietnam.

His two younger brothers, Ramon and Alejandro, also Mexican citizens, served in the war in Vietnam. They died almost a decade ago and are buried at Fort Bliss.

Their mother, Margarita Castro-Gonzalez, was born in Yuma, Ariz. She said she always dreamed that her nine children would become American citizens.

Gonzalez, though, was the only one of his siblings to become a citizen.

His mother, now 89, said she wondered whether it would ever happen.

At the ceremony, she stood cheering with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as Mesa recognized Gonzalez and 13 others who had served in the U.S. military before they became U.S. citizens.

"He is what this country has made him," Castro-Gonzalez said of her son.

Through the Fourth of July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will naturalize more than 6,000 applicants at about 50 ceremonies across the country and overseas.

Two of Gonzalez's daughters and all his grandsons, in shirts and ties, arrived at his Lower Valley home early Wednesday to be with him before the ceremony.

His daughter, Aida Caracosa, said he always made sure his grandchildren knew about his service in Vietnam. She said he taught them how to show respect to soldiers.

Another daughter, Eva Gonzalez, said the family was excited about the ceremony because of her father's time in Vietnam.

"Anyone willing to serve this county and not be a citizen deserves to be a citizen," she said.

Gonzalez settled in El Paso in 1968 after being wounded in Vietnam and receiving a Purple Heart. He married three years later, and after working several jobs, he became the owner of a bar. He and his wife have been in the bar business for more than 20 years.

As for his belated motivation to vote, he explained it this way: "When people like me are disappointed about outcomes, you want to feel that you're doing something about it."

Because of his service to the country, Gonzalez said, many fees were waived during his application for citizenship. He filed on the Internet, printed out some paperwork and sent it in.

At the end of the ceremony, new citizens raised their arms and waved American flags while Raul Aguilar sang "God Bless the USA."

Dozens registered to vote at a booth awaiting them at the convention center's exit.

Gonzalez, his citizenship papers in hand, was among those who registered to vote.