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CNN Live Today
Citizen Sailors
Aired August 08, 2003 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in Norfolk, Virginia, a very different scene. About 200 sailors serving in the U.S. Navy have become U.S. citizens. Many served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they were granted citizenship in a ceremony an hour ago aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. And Yuniel Delgado is one of those newly sworn-in Americans. He joins us now from Norfolk.
Well, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.
Is this something you'd been trying to get for a long time, your citizenship?
YUNIEL DELGADO, U.S. NAVY: Yes, actually, I've been trying to get it for a while.
WHITFIELD: Well, tell me about the process. Was it sped up in any way because you served in the U.S. Navy, or what have you been up against?
DELGADO: It kind of expedited a little bit, because I'm in the Navy. But usually, takes a long time because we kept going on deployment, kept going out to sea. I kept postponing it. But now, I'm here.
WHITFIELD: And congratulations. And so, oftentimes, people might think that you might want to get your citizenship first and then join one of the services, the U.S. services. But instead, you did it the other way around. Why?
DELGADO: I don't really understand it. The way I see it is if we're here, we're defending this country, our country. I don't see why the citizenship should have to be a problem for some people.
WHITFIELD: How has being part of the U.S. Navy changed your life?
DELGADO: Can you repeat that, please?
WHITFIELD: How has being in the U.S. Navy changed your life, or your outlook on the citizenship that you eventually wanted to attain?
DELGADO: It's been really good so far. I've been multiple places around the world. This changes the way, what I can get a better job in the Navy, I can do better things in the Navy, and being a citizen now, it affects my career now a little better than it had before. WHITFIELD: So many of your fellow sailors who were sworn in today served in the war in Iraq. I imagine that being granted citizenship now, being sworn in certainly means something different than they initially anticipated. What, in your view, does it mean to become an American citizen now?
DELGADO: It was an incredible feeling. I'm very proud. I've been, like I said, I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. And now that I'm here, I'm really, really proud to be an American.
WHITFIELD: Yuneil Delgado, thanks very much and congratulations to you. And I imagine you're just filled with emotion all day today.
DELGADO: I am, I am.
WHITFIELD: All right, congratulations.
DELGADO: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 8, 2003 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in Norfolk, Virginia, a very different scene. About 200 sailors serving in the U.S. Navy have become U.S. citizens. Many served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they were granted citizenship in a ceremony an hour ago aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. And Yuniel Delgado is one of those newly sworn-in Americans. He joins us now from Norfolk.
Well, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.
Is this something you'd been trying to get for a long time, your citizenship?
YUNIEL DELGADO, U.S. NAVY: Yes, actually, I've been trying to get it for a while.
WHITFIELD: Well, tell me about the process. Was it sped up in any way because you served in the U.S. Navy, or what have you been up against?
DELGADO: It kind of expedited a little bit, because I'm in the Navy. But usually, takes a long time because we kept going on deployment, kept going out to sea. I kept postponing it. But now, I'm here.
WHITFIELD: And congratulations. And so, oftentimes, people might think that you might want to get your citizenship first and then join one of the services, the U.S. services. But instead, you did it the other way around. Why?
DELGADO: I don't really understand it. The way I see it is if we're here, we're defending this country, our country. I don't see why the citizenship should have to be a problem for some people.
WHITFIELD: How has being part of the U.S. Navy changed your life?
DELGADO: Can you repeat that, please?
WHITFIELD: How has being in the U.S. Navy changed your life, or your outlook on the citizenship that you eventually wanted to attain?
DELGADO: It's been really good so far. I've been multiple places around the world. This changes the way, what I can get a better job in the Navy, I can do better things in the Navy, and being a citizen now, it affects my career now a little better than it had before. WHITFIELD: So many of your fellow sailors who were sworn in today served in the war in Iraq. I imagine that being granted citizenship now, being sworn in certainly means something different than they initially anticipated. What, in your view, does it mean to become an American citizen now?
DELGADO: It was an incredible feeling. I'm very proud. I've been, like I said, I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. And now that I'm here, I'm really, really proud to be an American.
WHITFIELD: Yuneil Delgado, thanks very much and congratulations to you. And I imagine you're just filled with emotion all day today.
DELGADO: I am, I am.
WHITFIELD: All right, congratulations.
DELGADO: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
