Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 14, 1990 TAG: 9007140343
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELLIE SCHAFFZIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Vu Le, 21, has sung along at baseball games and at home with his five siblings since they arrived from Vietnam 10 years ago. His sister Nhanh Thi, 23, said she got a lot of rehearsal time out of the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," whose characters sing the national anthem.
Le and his two sisters were among the 60 citizens naturalized at the federal courthouse in Roanoke on Friday. The group filled the jury box and an additional five rows in the courtroom, where they took an oath to renounce former ties to their native countries and to serve the United States as citizens.
Judge Philip Trompeter of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court spoke to the group about this oath. Trompeter, who said he sees troubled American youth and families in his courtroom each day, told them although they must renounce their former citizenship, there is something they brought with them they should never cast aside.
"I beg you never to renounce the wonderful values of family, the wonderful values of productiveness, of being good people," he said. Trompeter thanked the new citizens for what they would bring with them to their communities in the U.S.
The Le family knew little of what to expect of the United States when they escaped in a crowded refugee boat on which there was room only to stand. They did know, they said, that there would be freedom.
"The preconception was just like heaven," Vu Le said. He said their mother worked in an army camp from which she brought home a can of American "assorted candies" one day. It did not matter that the can was empty; just that it came from America.
"Once in a while we would take that can out and talk about what America is like," Vu Le said.
Anton Antokhin, 20, said his parents left their home in Moscow five years ago because they did not want him to enter the army. As Jews, Antokhin's family was subject to a great deal of hatred, he said.
"They wanted me to grow up in a kindler, gentler nation," Antokhin said, letting the American in him shine through.
Antokhin and his parents waited four years for permission to leave the USSR, and then spent three months in West Germany, where they requested political asylum at the U.S. Embassy.
Antokhin talked of his first impression of American streets. "Everything was so big and loud. It was very much alive. In Russia it's much quieter," he said.
To gain his citizenship, Antokhin and the others had to answer questions about the nation's history; Antokhin also had to explain his membership in the Communist Party's youth groups, which he was required to join as a child. He seemed to think the history quiz was the most trying.
"I had to wait six hours to get asked those five questions - I think that's the exam right there," he said.
But Antokhin was serious about Friday's ceremony, to which he rushed from Atlanta, getting an all-American speeding ticket on the way. He walked out of the courthouse with a certificate of citizenship and an American flag. He said he would try to attach his flag to the antenna of his car, "so everyone can see it.
As the Washington and Lee student headed back to Atlanta, where he works as an intern for Cable News Network, he said he felt no different after the naturalization ceremony.
"I've been an American a long time now. This is just to affirm that. I've recognized the country. This is when the country recognizes me," he said.
by CNB