Walter Polovchak is pictured during a family event in Chicago, c. 1982. Polovchak, whose parents came to the United States in 1980 from the Soviet Ukraine, was the subject of international news coverage when he decided to stay in the United States with his sister, Nataly, instead of returning to the Soviet Union with his parents. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Nataly Polovchak, former Illinois Gov. James Thompson, Walter Polovchak and attorney Julian Kulas are pictured in Thompson office at the former State of Illinois building in the fall of 1985. Kulas was the attorney for Walter Polovchak. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Walter Polovchak (partially obscured, right) is hugged by his attorney, Julian Kulas, after being sworn in as a U.S. citizen by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Kocoras in Washington, D.C., in October 1985. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Walter Polovchak (center), 19, holds the James E. Van Zandt Citizenship Award presented to him at the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in October 1986. Polovchak received the award one year after becoming a U.S. citizen. Polovchak, whose parents came to the United States in 1980 from the Soviet Ukraine, was the subject of international news coverage when he decided to stay in the United States with his sister, Nataly, instead of returning to the Soviet Union with his parents. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
A school photo of Walter Polovchak, c. 1982, in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Walter Polovchak, 18, celebrates being granted U.S. citizenship with his attorney, Julian Kulas (far right) and two unidentified people in Washington, D.C. in October 1985. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Walter Polovchak (center), 18, places his left hand on a Bible held by his sister, Nataly (right partially obscured), while is being sworn in as a U.S. citizen by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Kocoras (not pictured) in Washington, D.C., in October 1985. Polovchak’s attorney, Julian Kulas, is partially obscured, on the far left of the photo. (Photo courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Left: Nataly Polovchak, 12, and Walter Polovchak, 7, are pictured in a studio portrait in the Soviet Ukraine in c. 1974. Right: Walter Polovchak is pictured with his sister, Nataly, on her wedding day in Chicago in 1988. (Photos courtesy of Walter Polovchak)
Walter Polovchak, 47, holds the American flag that was flying over the White House on the day he became a U.S. citizen in October 1985. The flag was later given to Polovchak as a present by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Photo taken in front of Polovchak’s home in Des Plaines, Illinois, on May 24, 2016. (Bill Carruthers/Decades Network)
