There is something beautiful about this story -- and the story of every service member who is seeking American citizenship. After all, they recognize the special nature of America in a way that we who were born here likely never will.

Evan Eskharia fled Iraq in 1990 when he was 9 years old, crossing into Turkey on foot one night with his parents and siblings.

On Saturday morning, Eskharia, now a U.S. Marine, strode into a palace built for the man his family had fled and recited the oath of citizenship.

He was among 159 service members who obtained U.S. citizenship during the largest overseas naturalization ceremony in history.

"When they called my name, I looked down and said: 'It happened! It's done!' " Eskharia said, standing under a grand chandelier that lights up the main hall of the Al Faw Palace, built as a retreat for Saddam Hussein. "It's ironic that I fled this country from a dictator and came back to get my citizenship here."

The numbers and the stories are staggering -- and heart-warming.

Since 2004, when Bush signed into law the new regulations that streamlined the citizenship process for service members, more than 5,000 soldiers have become U.S. citizens. Roughly 20,000 active service members are eligible to apply, according to immigration officials.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 140 foreign-born U.S. soldiers have died while on active duty. Some have been naturalized posthumously.

The new rules allowed Army Spec. Sheikh Qaisar, 34, of Houston to become a citizen less than two years after he moved to the United States.

"I joined the Army the same month," said Qaisar, who was born in Pakistan and has been stationed in the city of Mosul since November. "I wanted to learn about the U.S. culture and system."

U.S. Army Spec. Myakol Mayom, 35, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who fled southern Sudan in 2001, said U.S. support for the people of his region, which was embroiled in a years-long civil war, allowed him to escape.

"When I came to the United States, I never felt like a refugee," said Mayom, holding a folded U.S. flag. "The U.S. saved my life. If I die tomorrow, I would die smiling because I did the right thing."

From time to time I have been accused of being anti-immigrant. I'm not, and attempt to clearly make the distinction between those who come to America legally and those who do not. And growing up in a military family, it was my privilege to know men (and a few women) who served this country while seeking citizenship -- and heard from my father that they were often the finest soldiers and sailors in terms of character and devotion to duty.

And so I honor these men and women who serve our country and who through that service seek citizenship. They are always welcome here as the exemplary Americans they are.

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