The Military Equal Opportunity Office invites the public to Fort Huachuca’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Observance, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Tuesday, at the Thunder Mountain Activity Centre. The event is free and open to the public.
As part of the 2012 commemoration of the Military Intelligence Corps’ 50th anniversary, the Command History Office has partnered with the EO Office to bring in guest speaker Dr. Stephen Payne, the command historian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. Payne will give a presentation on the contributions of the Nisei Linguists (second-generation Japanese) during World War II. This little-known group of Americans overcame racial prejudice and political persecution to prove their loyalty to their country and provide valuable intelligence to the U.S. Army during World War II.
In 1990, President George Bush designated May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Asian Pacific American Heritage is observed in May to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, of which the majority of workers were Chinese immigrants, on May 10, 1869.
Today, Asian Pacific Islanders make up 4 percent of the active and reserve force of the Army and 2 percent of the National Guard. Although small in numbers, their contributions to America’s wars have been tremendous. Thousands of Asian Americans have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Of note is the 100th Infantry Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, which was activated for their first deployment in 2004 to serve in Iraq, their first activation since the Vietnam conflict. The 100th Infantry Battalion is an all-Japanese battalion that consisted of former members of the Hawaii National Guard. They were activated and deployed again from 2008 to 2009; their tour of service was exceptional.
Asian Pacific American Heritage is observed in May to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, of which the majority of workers were Chinese immigrants, on May 10, 1869.
