Becoming American: One Woman's Journey
By SHELLEY HANSON Staff WriterArticle Photos
BELMONT - Inge Gregg's journey to becoming an American citizen began long before she had to take a test or swear an oath.
After living most of her life in the shadow of Hitler and later an oppressive Russian regime, Gregg had enough.
"I grew up under Hitler. It was as he said, we had to do as he said. ... With a dictator you have to do, with Christ you want to - you have a choice," Gregg said. "I was 3 years old when (Hitler) took over, and 15 when the war ended."
Tired of being hungry and with a thirst for freedom, Gregg left her home and family in East Germany. Although there was no wall at the time, to cross the line to West Germany still wasn't an easy task for the teenager.
"First the Americans came for five months, and then the Russians came. There was not much difference (between Hitler and the Russians). There was no food - half a pound of fish a week and you were always hungry. So when I was 18 years old, I decided I would go to the west, West Germany."
About a 15-mile train ride and additional miles of walking led her to a farmer's field near the dividing line.
"I really didn't know how to get to West Germany, but then I saw the farmer. ... I asked him, 'How do you get to the West? And he said, 'I'm not going to tell you how, but see that over there?"' Gregg said, noting the farmer pointed to a path.
The farmer warned her there would be guards - but Gregg had come too far to turn around. She started down the trail and heard someone yell "stop" in Russian.
"I kept on walking and I heard a shot. He didn't shoot at me, he shot in the air and I kept walking. I really didn't care. I guess I didn't have any sense. I was 18 and I wanted out. It really didn't matter - I wanted to be free. And I was hungry and I wanted to eat," Gregg said.
Gregg finally made it across and took a train to try and reach her friend's house. But before being able to reach the friend's home, police stopped the train. To avoid being sent back to East Germany, Gregg told the police she was Czechoslovakian. She was jailed overnight, and a judge sent her to a refugee camp. She was eventually released, and to protect her identity she had a Czechoslovakian birth certificate made for her.
She later met and eventually married an American soldier, Bob Bramble from Rhode Island.
"Naturally I said, 'yes.' I didn't want to go back to East Germany - and I was in love," Gregg said.
And when it was time for him to go home, she went, too. After three years of marriage, the couple had a daughter. But Bramble became ill soon after. He died of leukemia. Gregg lived with her in-laws until her sister moved from Germany to Belmont. She moved there, too. Belmont is where Gregg met Vernon.
"I was a city girl and he was a farmer," she said.
And, as they say, the rest is history. The two married and have lived in Belmont ever since. They celebrated their 50th anniversary last year.
Gregg lived in the U.S. on a visa until 1970 before finally becoming an American. She took the oath of citizenship during a ceremony held in Steubenville. Much like today, she was required to take a citizenship test that included civics and history questions.
"People don't know what they have in this country. They just take it for granted," Gregg said.
It wasn't until after Gregg became an American citizen that she felt safe going back to East Germany to visit family.
"I was afraid they would keep me," she noted.
The process of becoming a citizen is called naturalization. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, "tool kits" containing information about the process of becoming a citizen are available at many public libraries. The kit contains flash cards with history and civics questions, in addition to sample test questions.
The process of naturalization, according to CIS, is not meant to measure a person's allegiance. However, it is hoped that by studying the principles, people will become attached to them.
Sample test questions include:
- Where does freedom of speech come from? (the Bill of Rights)
- What was the 49th state added to our Union? (Alaska)
- What are the first 10 ammendments of the Constitution called? (the Bill of Rights)
- Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death?" (Patrick Henry)
Before one is permitted to take the test, they must file an application called an N-400. One must also be at least 18 years old, and have lived in the U.S. continuously for five years, according to the Office of Immigration Statistics. In 2007, 660,477 people were naturalized. Most came from Mexico at 122,258, and then India at 46,871, Philippines at 38,830, China at 33,134 and Vietnam at 27,921.
California had the largest number of people naturalized at 181,684. New York came in second with 73,676 people, and Florida in third with 54,563.
In addition to having good moral character, to be naturalized one must be able to read and write English.
