R 031719Z MAY 19
MARADMIN 272/19
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MP//
SUBJ/2019 NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH//
REF/A/PUBLIC LAW 102-450/23OCT1992//
REF/B/PERSONAL INTERVIEW/MOHAMMAD NASIM/CIV/MRA/14MAR19//
REF/C/PERSONAL INTERVIEW/TOAN HUYNH/CIV/MRA/14MAR19//
REF/D/PUBLIC LAW 94-23/23MAY75/THE INDOCHINA MIGRATION AND REFUGEE ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1975//
POC/T. M. VELAZQUEZ/CIV/MRA (MPE)/TEL: COM 703-784-9371/TEL: DSN 278/EMAIL: THERESA.VELAZQUEZ@USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  Public Law 102-450 designates May of each year as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.”  Each May provides us with the opportunity to honor Americans descending from peoples across Asia and the Pacific Islands and to recognize their past and  continuing contributions to the success and development of our Nation.  The observance theme for 2019 is: “Unite Our Mission by Engaging Each Other.”
2.  The continent of Asia expands to the borders of Europe and Africa (West), Oceania (South), North America (East), and includes a portion of the Arctic (North).  Asia is not only the largest continent of the world, it is also the most populated.  Sixty two percent of the global population lives in Asia’s forty-eight countries embodying a vast diversity of cultures, traditions, histories, and religions.  For Asian emigrants, the United States is the preferred destination country representing around fourteen percent of all Asian global migration.
3.  Born to a physician in a small village in India, Mr. Mohammad Nasim immigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom to study computer science in 1967.  Upon completion of his education, he experienced difficulty in finding work within his chosen field, so he accepted an administrative position at the U.S. Pakistani Embassy.  With this first job, he utilized his language skills and continued his search for a technology positon.  In 1980, Mr. Nasim accepted employment with the Department of the Navy as a Computer Specialist (Series 2210), and, in 2003, he transferred to work for the Marine Corps.  Throughout his civil service career, Mr. Nasim applied his focused work ethic and technical skills to the service of our Nation, while remaining committed to his family values and Muslim faith.  Having raised his children and grandchildren into highly-educated, productive American citizens, Mr. Nasim now looks forward to soon retiring from government service.
4.  At age fifteen after witnessing the violence of war to include the 1968 Tet Offensive, Mr. Toan Huynh fled South Vietnam in a boat alongside his family.  After months of migration, the Huynh family arrived at Camp Pendleton, CA in August 1975, where they stayed temporarily at San Onofre, one of eight refugee camps aboard the base.  Through the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, the Huynhs were sponsored by a Catholic community in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they resettled during September 1975.  Although living far from his original family home in the city of Can Tho (the largest city in the Mekong Delta) and having to adjust to a new culture, Mr. Huynh dedicated himself to his studies.  He attended North Carolina State University for electrical engineering, but interrupted his college education in 1980 to enlist as a Marine Corps infantryman, which was his response to the Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981).  Mr. Huynh retired from active duty nearly twenty-five years later as a Personnel Officer (MOS 0170) with combined regular and reserve service, and he continues to serve the Marine Corps as a government civilian employee in the Manpower Management Information Systems Division (MI Div) as a Management Analyst.  “I have been fortunate to have had great and inspirational leaders placed across my path,” Mr.  Huynh said as he reflected upon his application of their guidance on opportunities presented him during his lifetime.  In addition to possessing a longstanding commitment to service, Mr. Huynh closely adheres to his family and faith values.
5.  Release authorized by Brigadier General W. H. Swan, Division Director, Manpower Plans and Policy.//