Naturalized in the Field

"When I was in the States I had very happy days. Today is the most happiest day in my life when I am an American citizen."

Flushed with happiness, olive-skinned Lieut. Spiros Nickolas ("Steve") Pissanos, U.S. fighter pilot in Britain, thus haltingly voiced his appreciation of Army tape-cutting which had just made him a U.S. citizen as well. He had left his native Greece in 1938, landed in New York with $8, got a $13-a-week job in a bakery and within two months saved enough money to start flying lessons. He enlisted in the R.A.F. in 1941, later joined the Eagle Squadron and last fall transferred to the U.S. Fighter Command.

Many other foreigners are fighting America's battles in this war; some are technically Axis citizens and liable to be shot as traitors if captured. For their theoretical protection and reward the Army started last week to confer citizenship on men in the European Theater. Requirements: a soldier must i) be serving honorably in the armed forces; 2) have lawfully entered the U.S. beforehand; 3) produce two uniformed citizens, officers or noncoms, to vouch for him.

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