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Marine injured in Iraq becomes American citizen

- David Murphy and Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, July 14, 2005



(07-14) 12:45 PDT Palo Alto (SF Chronicle) -- Lance Cpl. Angel Gomez is at last a citizen of the country he almost gave his life to defend.

The 19-year-old Marine, who lost a portion of his skull three months ago while serving in Iraq, weakly raised his left hand today at the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto and proudly took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.

He raised his left hand, not the right, as is customary, to take the oath because the right side of his body is all but paralyzed.

It was a somber ceremony and a proud moment for Gomez, who was seven years old when his family came to California from Mexico and who joined the U.S. Marine Corps three years ago.

David Still, district director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, praised him for making “the ultimate sacrifice for a country that was not yet willing to adopt you.�

“Thank you,� was all Gomez could say in return.

Gomez was seated in a wheelchair, a bicycle helmet protecting his skull. Before him, 100 people crowded into the day room of the Traumatic Brain Injury Unit to see him receive his blue naturalization certificate, which bears the image of an eagle next to his photograph. The oath he took includes the promise to “bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law.�

It’s been three months since the firefight that shredded the left side of his brain as he bore arms on behalf of the United States. Gomez thinks he was outside Fallujah at the time, but isn’t sure. He doesn’t remember much about it.

“A bomb exploded, and that was it,� is about all he can recall. Perhaps it is better that way. His injuries were so severe that the portion of his skull shattered in the blast remains at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda Md., and will stay there until the swelling in his brain subsides enough for doctors to reattach it.

“The left front and the left side of his brain are gone,� said Stephanie Alvarez, the nurse manager at the traumatic brain injury unit at the VA hospital in Palo Alto, where Gomez has been recovering since his arrival on May 17.

“He’s got very weak short-term memory,� Alvarez said. “You can ask him only short, simple questions. He has a hard time speaking, but he speaks better when he sings.�

That’s common among people with severe brain injuries, Alvarez said. But despite the severity of his injuries, Gomez has made a rapid recovery and shown tremendous determination.

“He came in with no movement on the right side of his body,� said Debbie Pitsch, his physical therapist. “Now he’s able to walk with a cane.�

Gomez wants to attend college one day, but doctors say it could be two years before they know for sure just how well Gomez will recover. Patients with severe brain injuries often make great strides during the first six months of recovery, but then progress slows until the two-year mark, and only then can doctors offer a prognosis for recovery.

But Gomez’s father, Paulino Gomez, is thankful that his son is alive, and proud that he’s become a United States citizen. He said as much in Spanish during today’s ceremony.

Gomez was one of 45,000 non-U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. military. On July 3, 2002, President Bush issued an executive order making all military members in permanent resident immigration status immediately eligible to be naturalized.

Since then, more than 16,000 military members have benefited through expedited naturalization