Camp Victory, Iraq ? For most American soldiers serving in Iraq, there aren’t any days off or holidays. But Independence Day was special for 76 of them, who swore an oath of allegiance here Tuesday and became new citizens of the country they are fighting for in Iraq.

In the main hall of Saddam Hussein’s old hunting palace, which is the chief American command post in Iraq, U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers originally from 27 countries swore an oath of allegiance to the United States.

The dining hall was festooned with red, white and blue tablecloths and patriotic streamers. A tinny rendition of “America, the Beautiful” played on a small sound set. In addition, soldiers took a short pause to welcome the new Americans.

Spc. Ricardo Cortez flew to Camp Victory from Ramadi, one of the most hotly contested cities in Iraq, where he has spent the past few weeks clearing roads of improvised explosive devices.

“I love my job,” said Cortez, who moved to Austin, Texas, from Mexico six years ago. “It’s dangerous, yeah. There are always things being blown up. We’ve lost a couple of vehicles. But we make sure other people can drive safely.”

Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said in an Independence Day speech that there were similarities between the colonists’ struggle in 1776 and Iraq’s struggles this year.

“It took the commitment of our Founding Fathers and the Continental Army to secure America’s position in the free world, much as the Iraqi leaders and Iraqi army are working to secure a free Iraq,” Casey said. “It also took five years of hard fighting to do it.”

Casey lauded the 76 new American citizens and thanked them for signing up to fight for their new country, and for Iraq.