American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebrated In Natick

NATICK, MA—The Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center commemorated Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with an event on May 14 at Hunger Auditorium.

The event was open to all employees and included an esteemed guest speaker, a short-film about a former NSRDEC employee who made the journey from refugee to highly regarded Army scientist, a presentation of traditional clothing from a few Asian cultures and a sampling of Asian foods, said the announcement.

Craig Rettie, deputy director of NSRDEC, introduced speakers Col. Raymond L. Phua, commander of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Rettie praised Phua's "amazing accomplishments" and "commitment to service."

Phua told the audience he was born in Canada and moved with his family to the United States as an infant. At age nine, his family moved to Singapore, when they lived for four years. It was there that Phua said he learned his first important lessons about life. Phua told a story about a man who would ride his bicycle through Phua's neighborhood.

The NSRDEC-hosted event also featured a short film, chronicling the life journey of Quoc Truong, a recently retired and highly regarded NSRDEC physical scientist. Truong came to the United States from Vietnam as part of the first wave of Vietnamese refugees to come to America. He worked and studied hard to make a contribution to his new homeland.

"My heritage represents the refined, positive cultural upbringing, family values, beliefs, traditions, practices and customs my parents instilled in me and that their parents instilled in them -- and that I am hopefully passing down to my children throughout their lifetime," said Truong.

Read the full story here.

Photo via U.S. Army/Natick Soldier Systems Center