Like many Americans, there have been memorable Thanksgivings in my life.

One of them was in Saudi Arabia in 1990 when I served with the Marines from the former Tustin base during Operation Desert Shield. We ate turkey in our makeshift chow hall in the desert and a host of celebrities like Major Dad and Jay Leno visited the troops before we were ordered to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's army. War was imminent.

The American people were behind us, and so was the United Nations. We were eager for battle and thankful for all of the support back home. But that Thanksgiving was a close second to my first as a real American.

Twenty five years ago this month, I became an American citizen. At the age of twenty and a few days before President Ronald Reagan was about to be reelected, I drove to the Los Angeles Convention Center to participate in a ceremony to become a naturalized citizen. I couldn't even vote for The Gipper or anyone else on the ballot.

From April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell to the Communists until November 2, 1984, I had been in limbo status. My homeland was lost and I was not yet a citizen of America. When neighborhood kids bullies jeered, "Go back to Vietnam," I wanted to yell my comeback, "I can't!" but I never did.

I had repeatedly cited the Pledge of Allegiance while in school even though I hadn't truly understood what that meant. After nine years of repeatedly checking the "no" box in numerous applications and questionnaires asking whether I was a U.S. citizen, I finally could mark "yes" and skip writing my "alien number."

I hadn't done anything special to warrant citizenship, but in the United States, I only needed to stay out of trouble with the law and basically wait. Of course I had to pass an oral test about U.S. history and government selected from a question bank. "Who was the first president of our country?" "Hmm . . . George Washington?" I hurriedly replied.

There must have been 10,000 people of all colors and creeds standing on the convention floor. A federal judge came out and within minutes, all of us had become citizens after taking our oath of allegiance. "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty . . . that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States . . . "

I wondered then whether native-born Americans had to take a similar oath, or that their allegiance was naturally assumed. I didn't dare to raise the question; I was just elated about no longer having to check those "no" boxes.

I drove back to UCLA, where I was in my second year of studies, feeling indifferent about my new citizenship. There was no immediate celebration. I didn't Anglicize my first name. I stuck with the one my parents gave me when I was born in Saigon. Now I am running for public office and the experts tell me that my name does not sound "electable," whatever that means. Quincy Pham or Quin Pham just doesn't sound right.

A few weeks later I celebrated my first Thanksgiving as an American. I proceeded to my mother's apartment to eat her hybrid Thanksgiving meal, turkey with rice and fish sauce then leftover turkey soup. I clutched my government issued certificate of naturalization, proof of my new citizenship, and showed it to my sisters who were still legal aliens at that point.

As a citizen I was now afforded all the rights and entitled to privileges of a great nation. And along came responsibilities. First, I treasured most about my citizenship was that I had met one of the requirements to becoming an officer and a military aviator, once my childhood dream that turned into a sense of duty. Secondly, I had become an eligible voter and have voted in every general election ever since. Finally, I needed to help those less fortunate and always remember those fighting for our freedom and way of life.

Today, I remain thankful that I live in a democracy where I can be proud of my heritage yet belong to the land of the free, with liberty and justice for all.  Thank you America. And thanks to those Americans who continue to serve in harm's way.

Quang Pham is seeking the Republican nomination for the 47th Congressional District to challenge incumbent Loretta Sanchez in 2010. Visit his campaign Web site at www.PhamForCongress.com.