By Spc. Jonnie Blake
106th Public Affairs Detachment
RENO, Nev. – Staff Sgt. Michael Transue, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning civil engineer for the 152nd Civil Engineering Squadron, produced a display at the entrance of the dining facilities at the Nevada National Guard Air Base, here today to celebrate and create awareness of Filipino American History Month.
Transue is a member of the diversity council for the 152nd Airlift Wing and took an interest in the project because he is half Filipino on his mother's side.
"After doing the research for this project, I definitely benefitted the most because I gained a certain pride in my identity that I didn't have before," said Transue. "It gave me something to relate to seeing other people who have gone through the same thing as my Filipino family."
According to the Filipino American National Historical Society website, the celebration of Filipino American History Month, in October, commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587. When "Luzones Indios" came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California.
In 2009, Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the United States.