Celebrating birthdays of U.S. flag and Army

The city welcomed 13 new American citizens and about 50 new members of the U.S. Army during the second annual Stripes and Stars Festival, an event that honors the shared birthdays of the country's flag, also known as Flag Day, and the birth of the U.S. Army more than 200 years ago.

The observance began at 9:30 a.m. with a fair and 50-star flag-raising at the National Constitution Center, along with a naturalization ceremony and 13-star flag raising at the Betsy Ross House.

Flag Day was officially designated as June 14 in a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and National Flag Day was later established by an act of Congress in 1949.

An opening ceremony held at Independence Hall kicked off patriotic festivities with the swearing-in of new recruits on the 238th birthday of the U.S. Army.

They were congratulated by Maj. Gen. Margaret W. Boor and other military dignitaries during an enlistment ceremony that included 95-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran Alex Horanzy and 17-year-old Ethan Cotter cutting the Army birthday cake on stage, and Team Fastrax skydivers landing next to the Liberty Bell pavilion.

Also attending was Col. Robert Fuller Houston, a historical reenactor related to Sgt. William Carney, an African American soldier who fought during the Civil War and was awarded the Medal Of Honor.

"It's all at once exciting and very overwhelming to be here, and to represent my cousin Carney and appreciate the hardships he went through, and people of African descent, in general, went through," Houston said at the end of the opening ceremony.

Cotter was the youngest recruit sworn in and says he will be leaving in nine days for Fort Benning, Ga., where he will complete training before graduating from high school. "I felt very honored and really proud I was here in the birthplace of the flag," said Cotter.

One Delaware family said they had been looking for a fun and interesting event to see with their 10-year-old son, Mason, and the Stripes and Stars Festival fit the bill.

"This ended up being educational experience for him," said Mason's mother, Nicole Mills. "He can learn something he wouldn't learn in school."

The 13 selected candidates at the naturalization ceremony came from nine different countries, according to Kathleen Bausman, the Philadelphia section chief of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who said they were chosen for their enthusiasm and availability for the Sunday event.

The new Americans hailed from Cambodia, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Ecuador, India, Jamaica, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines.

"I truly feel a part of this country now," said Nicola Kannupe, 47, a native of the United Kingdom who was sworn in during the ceremony. "I've lived here for 12 years now.

"I've taken on some of the traditions and values of this country and more and more of my family are here now," she said.

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