JBB celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Photo By Senior Airman Tong Duong | Members of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing perform a warrior dance for the audience during JBB’s celebration of Asian-Pacific Island American Month. The dance originates from New Zealand’s Maori culture and is traditionally performed before going into battle.  

SALAH AD DIN, IRAQ

05.13.2011

Story by Senior Airman Tong Duong 

332d Air Expeditionary Wing

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- The Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebration, May 14, drew more than 300 base members to the morale, welfare and recreation - east center here.

The month of May celebrates Asian and Pacific Islanders' achievements and contributions to the development of the United States. This year's theme is "Diversity, Leadership, Empowerment and Beyond."

May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States, May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

For keynote speaker, Col. David Snakenberg, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing director of staff, it was an honor to be at the event.

"As a Pacific Islander myself, it is a fitting tribute to the largest part of the world with the greatest number of countries and cultures," Snakenberg, a native of Kailua, Hawaii, said.

The colonel, who entered the Hawaii Air National Guard in 1972, boasts a multicultural family. His wife is half-Chinese and he has a Samoan nephew, as well as grandchildren of Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese descent.

Following the speech, attendees were serenaded with songs and hymns by Fijian nationals and performances by Tahitian dancers. They also witnessed a Haka dance or Maori War Chant and heard a duet in the Filipino dialect. All while indulging in the delicacies of the cultures represented.

Staff Sgt. Salofi Leasiolagi, 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of police services, performed in the Haka dance to introduce the customs of American Samoa, where he was born.

"Customs and traditions in the military are very important and as Pacific Islanders we celebrate different events to honor our traditions and customs to uphold the values of our culture," said Leasiolagi, who is deployed from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

• Date Taken: 05.13.2011
• Date Posted: 05.20.2011 08:56
• Story ID: 70743
• Location: SALAH AD DIN, IQ