Photo Caption: Joined by more than 35 individuals, Clementon resident Staff Sgt. Tulip Appleton, 177th Fighter Wing, took the Oath of Citizenship Wednesday afternoon, June 25, at the Immigration and Naturalization Service building in Cherry Hill.

Staff Sgt. Appleton, who was born in Antigua, applied for American citizenship in 2002. "I was proud to take the oath, it reminded me of the oath I took when I joined the New Jersey Air National Guard," said Staff Sgt. Appleton, who is a career enhancement clerk with the Fighter Wing. "The first thing I want to do is register to vote, because I have never voted in my life,"
Staff Sgt. Appleton joined the 177th as a traditional drilling guardsman Mar. 3, 1998, has been serving on active duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.