Ethnic studies professor James Sobredo loves to sail. He spends every weekend with his family exploring the San Francisco Bay. He said it is one of his life goals is to charter a sailboat around the world. Sobredo’s ties to the sea didn’t begin with his favorite hobby; it began with his family.

In 1951, Sobredo’s parents left their small fishing village in the Iloilo Province in the Philippines and sailed to their new home: Guam. Sobredo was only four years-old, although he carried with him faded memories of the Philippines; Guam became what he considers his “heart home.” His father, Quirico Sobredo, became part of the post World War II program to rebuild the infrastructure of the war torn island. The Filipino community that was established in Guam during that time became what is known as “Camp Roxas,” a community that Sobredo said he considers his home.

His mother, Violeta Sobredo, was a middle school teacher and his father worked in Camp Roxas. Sobredo said his parents, especially his mother, a middle school teacher, played a crucial role in the community. He said they worked hard to encourage Sobredo to pursue a higher education. Sobredo said he became one of very few Camp Roxas members to obtain a college degree.

“Looking back at where they came and how far they got; it really was quite an accomplishment,” Sobredo said.

Sobredo said that nearly 10,000 Filipinos immigrated to Guam to join Camp Roxas. According to CampRoxas.com, Camp Roxas was sponsored through the U.S. Military to repair the damage on the island after the war. According to the website Filipinos make up 30 percent of the island population, and are the second largest minority group in Guam besides the island’s native Chamorros.

“I grew up listening to the sound of B-52 bombers flying off to Vietnam,” he said. “Camp Roxas was a very militarized city, but it was a self-contained community.”

Sobredo said that because only single men were allowed to live in the camp his family resided in the near by town called Santa Rita. He said growing up close to Camp Roxas gave him the work ethic he needed to pursue the goals he has in life. Sobredo said that Camp Roxas was a special time in his life and he is proud to claim it as his heritage.

He said he watched the young men work in the camp, many of them didn’t have families. He said their diligence and hard work made an impression on him at a young age. As part of the Asian-Pacific Islander idea of the extended family, Sobredo said every young man at the camp was his “uncle.”

“They were my role models. They were the ones I looked up to growing up,” he said.

Recently Sobredo took part in an upcoming documentary about Camp Roxas called “Under the American Sun.” Sobredo was asked by the film’s producer Bernadette Schumann to take part as the humanities scholar in the film.

The film documents the Filipino experience in Camp Roxas and will be released this summer. Schumann said she felt that it was important to document Camp Roxas from both a personal and historical perspective, and it was Sobredo who provide both aspects for her.

Schumann said Sobredo’s involvement with the film was very important because of his ability to recognize “political, social, cultural and economic factors that he observes and then points out.”

“(Sobredo’s) recollection of the Camp and academic viewpoint were critical for the film,” Schumann said “By recollecting childhood memories of the Camp, his father and family’s experiences and its relationship to ethnic studies. He can relate personally to the story as a descendant and also as an academic.”

Teaching and film are not the only forums where Sobredo’s perspectives are heard. Besides being an ethic studies professor, he is currently the vice chair of the university’s Faculty Senate and a member of the University Budget Advisory Committee.

“It would be easy to say ‘I hope you always have good weather,’ but it’s more helpful to tell people to be prepared, because hard times always come, just like the wind always blows.”

Adina Zerwig can be reached at [email protected]