American Samoans Sgt. 1st Class Jordan Leae, left, of 4th Troop, 7th Cavalry Squadron and Pfc. Ropati Soalo of Headquarters Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armored Regiment at Camp Casey are some of the Asian-Pacific Americans who will gather Saturday to celebrate their heritage. (Seth Robson / Stars and Stripes)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Asian-Pacific Americans are to celebrate their heritage here Saturday with ethnic food, music and dance, according to Camp Casey United Service Organizations director Sally Hall.
The USO-sponsored event, organized with the help of the 702nd Main Support Battalion, Morale, Welfare and Recreation and the Camp Casey U.S. Army Garrison, is to be held from 11.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside Primo’s Restaurant. It’s to include free Asian-Pacific food including dishes from Japan, India, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines.
USO has provided $2,000 of free ingredients to soldiers who will cook the ethnic food for the event — started by Area I equal opportunity advisers four years ago, she said, and continued by USO to mark Asian-Pacific American month.
“Everybody prides themselves on showing where they are from and their ethnic background,” said Hall, a Filipina. “This time of year really brings us back home, interacting with other Asian Americans and enjoying the food.”
Asian-Pacific Americans come from a myriad of different cultures, Hall added. For example, Filipinos identify more with Pacific Islanders than Asians from Japan, Korea or China, she said.
The Pacific Islander community appears to be one of the most tightly knit groups of Asian-Pacific Americans at Camp Casey.
Sgt. Flora Han, 23, of Palau, who is serving with the 702nd Main Support Battalion, said she misses her island home, which, like Guam, is a U.S. territory. “I joined the Army to support my family and go to college but I miss the food from back home,” she said.
American Samoan Pfc. Ropati Soalo, 20, of Headquarters Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armored Regiment, said about 20 Samoans are serving with the U.S. Army at the camp.
They gather to play sports, barbecue, talk about home and share their experiences serving in South Korea, he said.
Another American Samoan serving at Camp Casey, Pfc. Tia Molimau, 34, of 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, said he misses many things about his homeland including attending church with his family each Sunday.
“It’s fun over here, but it is nothing like home. The Army has shaped my life and given me a lot of opportunities I never had before, but in South Korea I have never seen the ocean — not even a lake,” said Molimau, who never was far from the sea in Samoa.
The Pacific islander often wears a traditional lava lava skirt when he is not in uniform, he said.
"I wear my lava lavas in the barracks. I will wear them on Saturday when I go shopping. The other soldiers know I am Samoan so they understand," he said.
Samoans from all over South Korea occasionally meet at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to hold traditional dances and interact, said American Samoan Sgt. Robert Randall, 31, of 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.
Pacific Islanders have a sense of togetherness and kinship instilled in them, he added.
“We may not know each other but as long as we are Samoan we come together as family,” he said.
