YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- A Vietnamese-American officer assumed command of the forward deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) April 23 in a ceremony that served as lead-in for the upcoming celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

In 1975, as a young boy, Cmdr. H.B. Le and his family fled South Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, following the end of the Vietnam War. Almost three-and-one-half decades later; he assumed command of the destroyer and her crew forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.