From a U.S. Army veteran from Belize to a Swedish man who has lived in Rhode Island half his life, 16 immigrants pledge allegiance to the United States.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 4, 2006

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Two years ago on July 4th, Leighton Ogaldez was serving his future country by fighting from the rooftops in Iraq. From that infantryman's vulnerable vantage point, he saw the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air. But not in celebration.

Yesterday, having recently finished his tour of duty in the U.S. Army, Ogaldez raised his right hand and took an oath of citizenship on the eve of Independence Day.

He was one of 16 new citizens who were sworn in during an outdoor ceremony at the Roger Williams National Memorial, a 4.5-acre park (and the 20th-smallest park in the national park system) that commemorates the life of Rhode Island's founder. The ceremony, by government design, was fraught with symbolism.

"Since the war and all, I don't get emotional," said Ogaldez, who added that he was receiving counseling to help with the psychological aftermath of battle. The significance of the day, however, was not lost on the 26-year-old native of Belize.

"It means a lot to me, that this is on July third," said Ogaldez, who lives in Wakefield. Attaining citizenship also meant enough to Ogaldez that he persisted through several snafus: he said the government lost or misplaced his paperwork three times during his Army tour of duty.

Surrounded by Norway maples, white pine and London plane trees, the 16 new citizens listened as Magistrate Lincoln Almond Jr. described the meaning of the Fourth of July -- a concept they had studied in citizenship class.

The magistrate read from a letter that John Adams, second president of the United States, wrote to his wife, Abigail, in which Adams predicted that the Fourth of July "will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."

Adams wrote, "It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells and bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other . . .."

Almond also noted that the town of Bristol today will once again host the oldest continuous celebration of July 4th in the country. And, he mentioned that the tiny park they were standing in honors the legacy of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on the principle of "liberty of conscience."

The people who swore allegiance to the United States yesterday came from Poland, Liberia, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, Cape Verde, the Philippines, Belize, Greece and Bolivia.

Teresa Fernandez, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1992, said she was proud to have taken the oath of citizenship.

"Muy bien," she replied, clutching the piece of parchment denoting her new status. She was grateful "for what the country has offered her," she said through an interpreter.

Fernandez took citizenship classes at the International Institute of Rhode Island, the state's largest immigration agency. Those classes are held year-round, said Bruno Sukys, immigration program director, who accompanied Fernandez to the ceremony.

Olle Johanson, who came to the United States from Sweden in 1982, said, "I've lived here almost half my life," and decided that it was quite simply, time to become a citizen.

And, Johanson added, "I'd like to be able to vote."

A silversmith who earned his master's degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, Johanson said he most likely will celebrate today by watching the fireworks from the John Hancock Tower (named for the first signer of the Declaration of Independence) in Boston -- a celebration that promises its yearly spectacle of illumination, bursting in air over the Charles River.

kziner@projo.com / (401) 277-7375