“Happy 250th USA” – From A Proud Naturalized American

July 4^th,  2026 marks my 66^th  year as an American citizen.

In 1960 my mother and I were both sworn in as U.S. citizens.

My parents immigrated to the  United States after Canadian doctors told my father, Cecil, that he needed to move to a warmer climate due to his deteriorating health caused by the German chlorine gas attack on his contingent of volunteer Canadian troops in Ypres, Belgium  April 25, 1915, during World War I. It was the first use of poisonous gas in that war.

In 48 hours in Ypres, 6,035 Canadians, one man in every three, became casualties of whom more than 2,000 died, mostly from poisonous gas. Those were heavy losses for that small body of volunteer Canadian troops. Due to those losses conscription was passed in Parliament August 1917.

Conscription for World War II didn’t begin in Canada until after the Normandy landings in 1944, where Canada had its own beachhead, Juno, and were among the first allied forces to break through into the interior of France.

Following World War I my father faced another emotional hurdle, the death of his first wife, from the pandemic Spanish flu, leaving him alone to raise his son Bob, who became my half-brother when my Mother and Cecil Scott married.

Bob served his country in World War II on a Royal Canadian Navy destroyer that fired on German positions as Americans, British and Canadians stormed the beaches. He fired over the head of his stepmother’s brother, Norman, my uncle, who landed on Juno beach.

Bob was wounded, met a Welsh nurse, who eventually became his wife, and both eventually  joined us in Florida, becoming proud U.S. citizens as did their two daughters. Our brother Paul also became a U.S. citizen and served in the U.S. Air Force. I served in the U.S. Army.

My uncle, Norman, who landed on Juno Beach with the Canadian army, also immigrated and became an American citizen as did his son, John, who served in the U.S. Air Force. Norman’s two daughters are also U.S. citizens, one born here, one naturalized.

We are a fiercely patriotic family, all proud Americans and those of us that still survive are thrilled that we’re able to celebrate our adopted country’s 250^th birthday.

I’ve discovered over the years that naturalized citizens are some of the most patriotic and proud Americans.

Canada was not then and still isn’t a totalitarian country and the reasons that many in my family immigrated here were because of the opportunities America offered. We were not escaping oppression, the threat of death or confiscation of our properties, but seeking opportunities and in my father’s case, a healthier climate. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his wounds at the age of just 58.

My widowed mother went to work to pay the rent and buy groceries. Not once that I heard did she ever consider moving back to Canada. She loved her adopted country and instilled a strong sense of patriotism in her sons.

Following my father’s death my mother moved us to Tampa, where I was introduced to another community of expatriates, Cubans, who fled Fidel Castro’s communist dictatorship. Despite leaving many of their family members, homes, and fortunes behind, I don’t think I’ve ever met a happier, more welcoming group of people. Families gathering in their yards, eating, singing, and laughing were common as I biked through Tampa neighborhoods. It was rare when I wasn’t called out to join them.

Whenever I was invited into a home by one of my new Cuban pals, no matter what time of day, there was always a pot of something simmering on the stove. I was inevitably asked if I was hungry, and no matter my answer I was given a steaming hot bowl of whatever was in that pot  and told “¡Come!” — eat. I did as I was told, explaining to my frustrated mother later that evening that I wasn’t hungry for dinner. To this day I love Spanish bean soup and chicken with yellow rice.

During my U.S. Army service, I met many other expats from Germany, Russia, various Latin American countries, etc. all enthusiastic new residents, excited that following their service they could be become American citizens.

I don’t recall hearing individuals from a foreign country living here utter a negative word about his or her newly adopted country, not once.

I’ve only heard that recently, oddly enough from foreign-born members of the U.S. Congress, e.g. Ilhan Omar, from Somali,  Pramila Jayapal, who was born in India, etc. These are people who should be heaping praise on America for providing them opportunities they could never have imagined much less experienced in their native countries. Their negative attitudes are as incomprehensible to me as they are repulsive.

Later in life I worked and lived for several years in France and Belgium. I enjoyed my experiences there, made many friends and never once experienced anything but warm hospitality from the people. However, I was always happy to return to the U.S. and enjoy certain experiences that can’t be replicated elsewhere.

The late International Herald Tribune sports editor Dick Rorabeck described an American expatriate’s feelings in the Paris-based Herald Tribune with his 1960s springtime elegy,  “The Crack of the Bat”. Following are two stanzas:

Away on this side of the ocean

When the chestnuts are hinting of green

And the first of the café commandos

Are moving outside for a fine

And the sound of spring beats a bolero

As Paree sheds her coat and her hat

The sound that is missed more than any

Is the sound of the crack of a bat.

No, a Yank can’t describe to a Frenchman

The rasp of an umpire’s call

The continuing charms of statistics

Changing hist’ry with each strike and ball

Nor the self-conscious jog of the slugger

Rounding third with the tip of his hat

Nor the half-smothered grace of a hook slide

Nor the sound of the crack of a bat.

Like most Americans I am filled with pride as I watch the millions of foreign nationals visiting the U.S. for the World Cup shouting the praises of America. To their delight they discovered that the “Shining city on the hill” that Ronald Reagan repeatedly spoke of is real and filled with friendly, kind, welcoming people, incredible landmarks, magnificent scenery, an amazing variety of good food, and so much more.

This July 4 my Texas-born wife, Linda, and I will happily and proudly celebrate with local friends and members of American Legion Post 54 and the VFW Post 4351 along with others from the local community.

Happy July 4!