Pacific Islander Heritage Month
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan — U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Michael Auvaa, the inbound personnel first-stage noncommissioned officer-in-charge at the Installation Personnel Administration Center on Camp Foster, hails from a small island in the South Pacific Ocean — a U.S. possession in the Southern...

![Cpl. Michael Auvaa poses for a portrait in Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, May 18, 2021. The month of May represents and pays tribute to Asian-American and Pacific-Islander heritage, and recognizes the contribution and influences their cultures made which play an instrumental part in the past, present and future success of the United States of America. Auvaa grew up in A’asu, American Samoa, and moved to Anchorage, Alaska when he was 16 years-old, and became a Marine two years later in 2018. [photo: Lance Cpl. Alex Fairchild] Cpl. Michael Auva](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/cpl_michael_auvaa-1.jpg?itok=u8ERhRxW)