Personnel come together to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander heritage

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi personnel came together to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month recently.

Annually, in May, the month celebrates the culture, traditions and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which includes approximately 56 ethnic groups and more than 100 different languages. This year’s theme is, “Unite our vision by working together.”

Guest speaker for the monthly celebration was Bangladesh native Cmdr. Nausheen Mo-men, NHCCC psychologist. Momen migrated to the United States when she was 16 and joined the Navy in 2003 after earning a Ph.D. in psychology.

Momen talked about her country of origin stating that the population was one-half the United States’ living in a country that was the size of Wisconsin.

Cmdr. Joseph Espiritu, NASCC air operations officer, also spoke to those assembled. “Here we are celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander heritage and culture, but if it were up to me, we’d be celebrating us – the Navy and Marine Corps team. We have a common vision, common goal. We are part of a family, part of a team.”

“Diversity makes us stronger,” said Capt. Miguel Cubano, NHCCC commanding officer. “There are many things we can learn from each other.”

The celebration also included a jui jitsu demonstration, which originated in Japan as a battlefield art.