I moved to the US in 1964 from Australia and did grades to 1 to 4 in Phoenix, Boston and Minneapolis. I remember deciding not to pledge allegiance because at that time I was a Canadian. Then I finally became naturalized as a US citizen. For that I had to pass a citizenship course and swear an oath of allegiance in which I swore to defend the US. I swore that oath in front of Vice President Walter Mondale, who was from Minnesota. Thats a very serious oath to swear when you are 9 and I took it very seriously. I still have the document, and it allows me to work and live in the US or Canada. And I did defend the US when I was a teenager in Europe, did they ever hate yanks!