ELSA, Texas (KVEO) – For one RGV Vietnam veteran, the path to citizenship was a 53-year long journey.
Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame induction ceremony honors area
Vietnam veteran
When Ruben Sanchez was called to serve, he complied. He
quotes, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country,” from John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address.
“LB Johnson took over and he started drafting the people,
the young guys like myself. I was just 20 then,” said Sanchez.
His sense of humor hides what being in Vietnam was like,
joking that he went to have a picnic.
“Fui a tener un picnic, por eso,” he laughs. But the Purple
Heart he received will give you an idea of the terror he faced in Vietnam.
However, one thing he didn’t receive upon returning: his
U.S. Citizenship.
He recalls a Vietnam War-era agreement where a U.S.
Citizenship was promised to him and many others.
“They promised, if they go to fight, they were gonna get
their citizenship and they lied to them,” said Sanchez as he explained that he
had heard of veterans from Mexico that were deported after coming back from the
war.
Local military supporter and veterans advocate Mario Ybarra
says there may have not been enough support for veterans like Sanchez in
getting the process going.
“The process can be quite intimidating, as perhaps a lot of
people see it that way, but that in itself shouldn’t be a hinderance because
it’s basically just a matter of following good instruction and paying attention
to details and having the needed documents for processing,” said Ybarra.
53 years after returning from Vietnam, Sanchez can finally
call himself an American citizen.
Sanchez took his oath of allegiance in the city of Harlingen
at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Field Office, where he once
again swore to support and defend.
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