Khemmoro 1

Thomas Khemmoro
Dr. Hudson
HON 1000
25 October 2015
The Land That Saved Me
I owe my life to America: the land of great opportunity. I come from a small village in
present-day Iraq known as Tel Keppe where I owned an acre of farm land. I grew barley and
wheat and raised sheep for a number of years (Khemmoro 1). I was one of the most prominently
successful farmers in the village. I never thought about leaving Iraq because God had blessed me
with success beyond what was necessary and a wife and two children to share my success with.
Everything changed in May of 1920. Our home was struck by a British air bomb (Pruszewicz1).
Everything that had put value to my name was gone besides my wife and two children. My
family and I moved into my brothers home five hours south of present-day Baghdad where I
helped him run his restaurant. I did not think life could get uglier than it had already gotten until
my brother was robbed and murdered on his way to work only two weeks into living with him.
In fear of my own life and the life of my family, I sold my brothers restaurant for far under the
actual value of it and left Iraq to escape the grim conditions of life after the bombing and the
murder of my brother. With virtually no money, I put my family and myself on a boat with thirty
other immigrants in efforts to reach the land we keep hearing about: America. The stories about
America made me believe that immigrating there was only choice left for me and my family to
take although the risk was extreme. We made it to the city of Detroit in late 1920 where we
began to restart our lives. Against all odds, I made a name for myself in Detroit and created a
new life for my family. Making it in America is not easy but I am living proof that all a person
needs is a dollar and a dream.
Still without money and no occupation, me and my family found ourselves in a foreign
boarding house where we shared a single room with two other families of four ("CHALDEAN

Khemmoro 2
FINDS "EDEN" AT FORD 1). Everyone slept on the carpet floor with the blanket and pillow
provided to us. The living conditions were exceptionally inadequate and I found myself
questioning the future I was going to bring forth to my family. One week into life at the boarding
house and still without a job, I began to cry before bed. I asked God a series of questions of
doubtful faith. Why did you do this to me? Why did my life undergo a complete turnaround?
Why isnt America what everyone said it was? I still proceeded to recite my bedtime prayers and
asked God to guide me in the right direction.
God answered my prayers the very next morning. NOW HIRING: FORD MOTOR
COMPANY in big bold letters appeared on the front cover of the Detroit Free Press. The words
were black in text but gold to my eyes. Without saying a word, I zoomed out of the boarding
house and proceeded to the Highland Park Ford Plant. I had never seen anything like this before.
Thousands of people of many different nationalities were lined up outside the factory in pursuit
of a job just like me (Ford'sFiveDollarDay1). The scene was something I will never forget. I
began to feel relief that I was not the only immigrant who was searching for a new life in
America but I also began to feel doubt because of the number of people lined up looking for a
spot in the factory just like me. I waited in the blistering cold for two hours before I got my
chance to meet with an interviewer. I was nervous because of my shaky English but I was able to
maintain the conversation and answer all questions confidently. The interview lasted only ten
minutes. I went home to my wife and kids as the newest member of the Ford Motor Company.
I started work the next day. I held a job on stage one of the assembly line. I was only
trained for an hour before being put to work at full pace. The job was not difficult to learn but
was very repetitive. The atmosphere was different than any work atmosphere I had ever been in.
Most people around me did not speak fluent English which made it difficult to communicate with
each other. The minimal communication between workers minimized distractions and increased

Khemmoro 3
productivity in work. I started work at a great time where the five-dollar day was still new to
the Ford Motor Company and America. The five-dollar day was an adopted policy where
workers would work a five-day, forty-hour week to earn five dollars per day. The increase in pay
and decrease and hours, according to Ford, was put into place to increase productivity. Workers
were expected to put more effort into their work although the time on the job had been
decreased. Manufacturers all across the world followed in Fords footsteps and the Monday
through Friday workweek became standard (FordFactoryWorkersGet40hourWeek1).
I worked at Ford Motor Company for the next ten years of my life. After two years, I had
accumulated enough money to move my family out of the foreign boarding house and into the
comfort of a place we could call our own. I spent the next eight years at Ford saving money to
open my own business in Detroit. I noticed that most Americans and Detroit residents had not
had much experience with middle-eastern food which was one thing I heavily missed about my
homeland. Therefore, I dedicated the next eight years at Ford to open up a middle-eastern cuisine
in Detroit in loving memory of my brother. Curlys Middle Eastern Cuisine became Detroits
first all-authentic middle-eastern restaurant and was an instant success.
The restaurant brought me and my family happiness. The restaurant did more than just
bring in income to my family and feed the citizens of Detroit. Curlys was one of the first
professional establishments that effectively shared the culture of Iraq and the Chaldeans with the
whole city of Detroit (Sengstock 1). I had not seen my wife as happy as she was on the grand
opening day since our wedding in Tel Keppe. We were no longer struggling. My children had
seen a side of the world that no child should ever have to know firsthand. When we first got to
America, you could still feel the fear in their eyes. Both of my kids helped run Curlys when we
first opened. They learned the business thoroughly and now own it and a number of other

Khemmoro 4
restaurants since I have passed down ownership after my retirement. My wife and I are now both
retired but we still live in Detroit: the city we owe our lives to.
I came to Detroit with a dollar and a dream. I turned my dollar into treasure and I turned
my dream into a reality. The only money I had coming here was the money I had from selling my
brothers restaurant which was enough to feed my family until I got the job at Ford. The dream I
held was creating a better life in a better place. My dream came true in the best place possible:
Detroit. Detroit gave me an opportunity I would have never seen in Iraq or anywhere else in
America. From having everything to losing it all, I learned that nothing in life is guaranteed.
From losing it all to recreating everything, I learned that anything is possible in America.

Works Cited
Sengstock, Mary C. Sociological Analysis: Traditional and Nationalist Identity in a
Christian Arab Community. 35 Vol. Association for the Sociology of Religion,
09/01/1974. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

"CHALDEAN FINDS "EDEN" AT FORD." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922): 1.

Apr 11 1915. ProQuest. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Arabs in America. University of North Carolina, n.d. Web.
<http://arabsinamerica.unc.edu/files/2012/07/Detroit_52_peddler.png>.

Pruszewicz,Marek."The1920sBritishAirBombingCampaigninIraq."BBC.
BBCNews,7Oct.2014.Web.<http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine29441383>.

Khemmoro 5

Ford'sFiveDollarDay.Digitalimage.TheHenryFord.N.p.,n.d.Web.
<https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2014/january/pic.asp?pic=1>.

"FordFactoryWorkersGet40hourWeek.History.com(2009):n.
pag.Web.<http://www.history.com/thisdayinhistory/fordfactoryworkersget40
hourweek>.

Khemmoro,Kiryakos."HomelandInterview."Personalinterview.20Oct.2015.