A MOMENT CAPTURED

Tiffany Brown

Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007 | 6:54 a.m.

The Paris Las Vegas ballroom was packed with more than 2,000 Democrats. Some wearing fine suits and sequined dresses, others in jeans and union T-shirts.

But Thursday night was a normal shift for Gloria Hammond, who was making her way through the conference center with sanitizer and latex gloves, looking for details that needed cleaning.

When "The Star-Spangled Banner" filled the halls outside the Clark County Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner in honor of the presidential debate, Hammond stopped dead in her tracks, raised her right hand and sang.

"I heard it and I just stopped. I had to stop. It's respect. It's a timeout. You have to take a minute, especially for the people that are out there in the Middle East fighting for us. It's one minute in your life and it's so awesome to be able to do it."

Hammond was born in Chile, but she left her family in Santiago and came to the United States in 1984. She has worked at Paris Las Vegas since 1999.

Setting her sanitizer on the floor and putting her gloved hand over her heart, Hammond proudly sang the national anthem of the country she has called home for more than 20 years.

She has been a permanent resident for some time and finished paperwork to become a U.S. citizen earlier this year.

"I just learned ('The Star-Spangled Banner'), but now it's coming from my deepest desire" to become a citizen, she said. "To me I look at it with more intensity with all I am learning (through the citizenship process). It's very important to me because there are a lot of changes happening and it's important that I can vote."

The national anthem makes her think of freedom. "It makes me feel free to be in the land, over here, of opportunity. It's overwhelming," she said in clear English but with a distinct Chilean accent.

Her family has stayed in Chile but she says her life in the United States has been worth the distance. "I am so happy to be here. It is my life and this country has been formed by so many people from so many places, and I feel like I am home. I feel like this is my home. It's a great place to be."

When the music ended she relaxed, as if breaking a trance, picked up her spray bottle and continued on down the chandelier-lighted corridors filled with political supporters.