HE WAS AN AMERICAN LONG BEFORE HE GOT ON THAT PLANE:

Hero who helped subdue shoe bomber becomes citizen (KATE BRUMBACK, 4/10/10, Associated Press)

Kwame James waited nearly 10 years to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, a long time compared with the time he spent helping subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight. [...]

The 6-foot-8 basketball player was napping when a flight attendant roused him. Ten rows back, Reid was scuffling with passengers and the crew after he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. James helped tie up Reid with belts and headset wires, and took turns holding Reid by his ponytail with another passenger until the plane could land in Boston. [...]

"I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy," he said Friday, a day after he was sworn in as a citizen in Atlanta. "All the things that people come here for, that's what I'm here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work."