May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord will celebrate the diversity and honor of its service members, including Sgt. Maj. El Sar, I Corps command chaplain sergeant major, a Cambodian-born American who lived through atrocities as a child in his homeland and is now proud to call America home.More than 1 million people reportedly died as a result of the Khmer Rouge communist regime's Cambodian genocide from 1975 to 1979, at the end of the Cambodian civil war. A 1984 British film, "The Killing Fields," documented the experiences of two journalists who lived through the horrific murders of anyone connected with Cambodia's prior government.It was more than a film for Sar, who lost several family members to the horrific killings. He spent time in refugee camps and prisons before arriving in America as a 12-year-old refugee with his mother and siblings."I'm proud to be an Asian American," Sar said. "I don't forget my heritage -- but I'm glad to be an American."
