U.S. Citizen by Choice

Book excerpt: As a boy in a small town in South Central Java, Indonesia I like to watch Western cowboy movies usually in black and white ,looking at shiny American cars and reading about America and I hope some day I will see America myself. After I graduated in 1958 from the medical school University of Indonesia in Jakarta I maried my long time sweetheart Laney Ouw and the same year I moved to Makassar to fulfill my obligation to the Government The Univ. of Hasannudin in Makassar send me to a graduate course in 1961 in Biochemistry at the University of Tennessee Memphis TN USA After living for one year in the USA my feeling to live in America is still my desire The murder of the six Army generals of the Indonesian Army on October 1 1965 cause a turmoil in the country and demonstrations and rioting and looting took place in several cities in Java and Sumatra makes me more aware that I need to live in the USA to be free of this turmoil. In August 1967 I left with my wife and 2 children Meike and Charles for Birmingham AL USA with a legal visa .And started my internship in Medicine and later my residency in Pathology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham In 1970 I accepted a position at the Dept of Pathology Indiana University in Indianapolis Indiana In 1973 I and my wife and Meike and Charles were sworn in as US Citizen and peace came over me .Now I know that me and my family have a country that is democratic and free. Two more children were born in Birmingham Grace and David both and the older children give us much joy and feeling of setled in America Climbing through the Ranks I became Professor and Senior Assoiate Chairman and Chief of Service Dept of Pathology under Dr Nordschow ,the Chairman who supported me through all those years. In 1998 I retired fully and still live in Indianapolis Indiana .