By Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
July 04, 2002
Suchindran Chatterjee grew up privileged in India. While other children went barefoot, two chauffeurs drove young Chatterjee to school in one of his family's five cars.
But he said not even his family's wealth was a match for the liberty and freedom
offered by the United States.
"God visits other countries," Chatterjee, 51, of Peoria, likes to say, "but he lives in the United States."
His love for America is shared by other naturalized U.S. citizens such as Riza Taguiang Jones, raised under a dictatorship in the Philippines; Maria Luisa Ross, who to this day feels indebted to U.S. soldiers for liberating Italy during World War II; and Don Matheson, whose admiration for the industrious spirit of Americans brought him to the United States from Canada.
The life many Americans take for granted is not easily lost on those who come from countries where liberty is sometimes repressed with the butt of a rifle. That's how it was for Ben Makele, who fled Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, to come to the United States.
He was among the 100 newly sworn-in citizens who two weeks ago stood and sang along to a scratchy recording of God Bless the USA., mouthing the words "I'm proud to be an American" in accents from every corner of the world.
Corny? Sure. But the degree of patriotism displayed at the naturalization ceremony in Phoenix was awe-inspiring as one new citizen after another came forward to share their stories. More than a few surmounted difficulties with English to "thank God for giving me the opportunity to be part of this great country," as one put it.
Even U.S. Magistrate Lawrence O. Anderson, who presided over the ceremony, was dabbing away tears at the end.
"I often wish our native-born citizens would come to see this ceremony," the judge said.
Chatterjee, the chief information officer of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, originally came to the United States to study and never left. He became a citizen in the late 1970s, while earning a doctorate at Vanderbilt University.
"This is a nation that allows you to be yourself," Chatterjee said.
"The United States provides a culture where ordinary people can do extraordinary
things."
Find this article at:
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/0704naturalized04intro.html
