Kromah, 36, was one of more than 500 men, women, and children sworn in as citizens yesterday. The Chester resident lost about 20 relatives - uncles, aunts, and cousins, she said - to Liberia's civil war in the late 1980s and 1990s.

She was sent by family to Sierra Leone to escape the war in 1990, only to face violent interrogation at school when another Liberian came in with a gun, she said.

"It was very difficult for young people," she said. The United States offered "a better quality of life."

She arrived in the United States in 2001. She works for a care-giving agency. After eight years of giving fingerprints, completing forms, being interviewed, and studying for a civics exam, she was granted citizenship.

Liberia was one of more than 60 countries represented at the ballroom ceremony. Mayor Nutter and keynote speaker Jane Golden, executive director of the Mural Arts Program, joined immigration officials to welcome the new citizens.

Nutter called on them to volunteer in their neighborhoods and thanked them for their dedication to their new home.

Native-born citizens "may take our freedoms for granted," he said. "I love this country, and I know you do as well."

The oath of allegiance was administered by Karen Fitzgerald, Philadelphia Immigration Services director. Friends and family hurried into the aisles to take pictures.

Five members of the armed forces were sworn in, representing the Air Force, Marines, and Army National Guard.

Spec. Aundre Sterling, 21, recently returned to West Philadelphia after 10 months of Army National Guard duty in Afghanistan. The Jamaican-born soldier, now studying information technology at Community College of Philadelphia, came to the United States with his family when he was 6.

The ceremony "changes me inside," he said. "I feel more empowered."

Sterling, who was joined by fiancee Jowel Kormah, 18, hopes to become an officer, a rank open only to citizens.

After the oath, President Obama addressed the new citizens via a recorded video on two mega-screens.

"I ask that you use your freedom and talents to contribute to the good of our nation and the world," he said.

Ali Nawaz, 3, slept as parents Tariq and Abroo were sworn in. But sisters Sophia, 13, and Maira, 10 - all three children are native-born citizens - were excited about the ceremony.

"I'm really happy for them," Sophia said. "They waited a long time."

Tariq, 42, and Abroo, 44, are physicians who immigrated to the United States in 1995 in search of jobs and better education for their future family.

"It's an honor for us," Tariq said.

Veronika Konovalova, 11, isn't a U.S. citizen yet, but mom Galina Konovalova became one yesterday. Veronika waved the small American flag given to all the new citizens as her mother, an information technology officer in Exton, was sworn in.

Konovalova came from Russia in 2000 to find work with her husband, Aleksey, and 2-year-old Veronika. She is six months pregnant and looks forward to the day when her husband and children are citizens, too, she said.

"We love this country," she said. Veronika "is totally American."

Contact staff writer Zoe Tillman at 215-854-2917 or ztillman@phillynews.com.