Asian Pacific American Heritage Month found its origins via a congressional bill.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month found its origins via a congressional bill. President George H. W. Bush designated May to beAPA Heritage Month in 1990. He chose to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the U.S. May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Although it was primarily these two historical events that led to the annual designation, there are numerous cultural heritages celebrated during Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. While many of these nations share ties geographically, the cultural diversity varies immensely. In addition to Japan and China, APA Heritage Month encompasses the cultures of other nations such as Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and the country of my ancestry, the Philippines.

America is a nation of immigrants where most of us can easily hyphenate the country of our roots with the word “American” to form some demographic terminology. This month’s celebration simply covers too many cultures to highlight but in reality the APA cultures are already fabricated in most of our daily lives.

The signs of the APA culture are everywhere if you simply look around. If you’ve bought sushi at the commissary, cooked ramen noodles, driven a Honda or Toyota car, taken your son to a martial-arts class or had a daughter into Hello Kitty you have experienced some of that APA influence adopted through the years.

As a second generation Asian-American, it’s amazing to see the impact of the diverse APA cultures. This month-long celebration is an opportunity to learn even more about these different cultures and significant people of Asian-Pacific descent. One such individual, who we can all admire and relate to as military members, is current Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Eric Shinseki. He is a retired Army four-star general and has been the seventh U.S.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs since 2009. His final Army post was as the 34th Chief of Staff of the Army (1999-2003).

Shinseki’s life embodies one APA’s rise to prominence. He was born in Hawaii, to an American family of Japanese ancestry. He went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point to earn his commission. He has thus far has been the highest-ranked Asian-American in the history of the United States military.

Earlier this year, our local unit was asked to provide medical and blood support for the Presidential Inauguration. It was a great opportunity for our staff and during this experience I learned that Secretary Shinseki was the “designated successor,” who is a member of the U.S. Cabinet appointed to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the president and the country’s other top leaders are gathered at a single location. This is intended to maintain continuity of government in the event of a catastrophic occurrence.

While this was only a contingency, it was the closest an APA has come to beresident of the United States. I’m proud that this month I can celebrate my APA heritage and the contributions of these people. The dream is that in my lifetime to someday witness this first and ultimate APA contribution.

The theme for this year’s APA celebration is “Building Leadership: embracing cultural values and inclusion.” The Joint Base Special Observance Committee comprises a diverse group of leaders that have worked together to plan activities to commemorate this year’s observance highlighted by the Luau and Dinner Show May 11, 2013. Tickets are limited so please contact the committee members below to reserve your seats now:

Maj. Jerome Vinluan at 754-3968, Fely Shuler at 754-5397, Master Sgt. Ferdinand Bautista at 754-2044 and Catherine Scott at 754-2079.