JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- In a special ceremony in the Medical Mall at Madigan Army Medical Center May 10, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month was celebrated with a traditional music and dance performance by "JBLM Soldiers of the Pacific Islands." The group is made up of Soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord ranging from privates to colonels, retirees, veterans, U.S. Army civilians, Department of Defense contractors, and their family members who have been performing for JBLM for years on a volunteer basis. Every year, they dedicate their personal time to perform for the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration.
Madigan staff, visitors and patients all gathered around the Medical Mall to observe the lively event, which is steeped in culture, tradition and folklore.
"It was an amazing event, this performance being shared allows everyone here the opportunity to experience its cultural significance," said Emmy Pula, a management assistant at Madigan who attended for the event.
The event was also shared on Madigan's social media pagess for those who could not attend. Madigan's equal opportunity team planned and organized the event.
May is recognized as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month -- a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).
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