Taguba Headlines Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration
FrontLines - June 2009
By Mary Jane Cotter
Retired Maj. Gen. Antonio
M. Taguba, the second Filipino-
American to attain the rank of
major general in the U.S. Army,
was the keynote speaker for the
Agency’s celebration of Asian
American and Pacific Islander
Heritage Month May 5.
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USAID and other federal agencies celebrated National Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage
Month at the Department of Commerce May 5. Left to right: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, retired
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, and Kristen Soper, assistant to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.),
spoke at the event.
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The event was sponsored
by USAID’s Office of Equal
Opportunity Programs, the
Department of Commerce,
the Department of Homeland
Security’s Customs and
Border Protection, and the
Postal Service.
“Don’t get mad; don’t get
even; just get ahead,” Taguba
said during his address to an
audience at the Department of
Commerce auditorium.
Eun Yang, weekend news
anchor for NBC4/WRC-TV, was
the mistress of ceremonies, and
Kristen Soper, an assistant to
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski
(D-Md.), delivered greetings
from Mikulski’s office. Breeze
6, a local singing group involved
in a variety of community service
programs, opened the event
with Chinese melodies.
Commerce Secretary Gary
Locke, the first Chinese-American
appointed to the post, opened the
program. Locke, a two-term
governor in Washington, said his
grandfather came to America to
realize a dream of a better life.
He worked for a family as a
houseboy in exchange for English
lessons, just one mile from the
governor’s mansion in Seattle
where his grandson would live
100 years later.
Locke said: “Asian/Pacific
Americans helped build the railroads,
worked in the gold mines,
logged the forests for the wood
that became cities and towns,
farmed the land to feed the
nation, and fought in world wars
to keep America safe and free.”
For his part, Taguba also
shared his family roots. He told
the audience his family emigrated
from the Philippines and
learned English as a second language
on the island of Oahu,
Hawaii. Though it was a difficult
transition for him, his parents
insisted he dedicate himself to
the challenge.
Taguba’s father survived the
Bataan Death March in World
War II. He later instilled in his
son a sense of duty for his country.
After he graduated from college, Taguba began his career
with the U.S. Army.
The 34-year Army veteran is
known for the Taguba report of
abuses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib
prison. He retired shortly after
the report was made public.
He has served as a role model
and advocate for fellow Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Today, he is a member of the
U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs Advisory Committee on
Minority Veterans. He also
serves as chairman of the Pan
American Leaders and Mentors,
a group dedicated to promoting
Asian American and Pacific
Islander leaders in military and
civilian ranks.
Asian immigrant history in the
United States began more than
two centuries ago—before the
Revolutionary War. Filipino sailors
were the first Asians to settle
in the United States around 1750
in Saint Malo, a small fishing
village in the bayous of current
day Louisiana. Today, the Census
Bureau reports there are about
15.2 million Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders living in the
United States, or about 5 percent
of the nation’s population. ★
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