JEFFERSON – The Ashtabula County Fairgrounds grandstands were thronged with military veterans the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 13, for the sixth annual Veterans Promise Ceremony, where they took an oath rededicating themselves in service to their nation and community.
The pledge was recited by retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Schwartfigure, executive director of the Ashtabula County Veterans Service Commission.
Prior to the oath, U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. (ret.) Bruce Hook acted as the guest speaker, sharing stories from his long career and how it informed his idea of service.
Hook enlisted in 1976. He completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, followed by security police technical school, also at Lackland. His first duty station was Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
After his active-duty service, Hook transferred to the Air Force Reserve, joining the 910th Engineering Unit in Vienna, Ohio, where he worked as a heavy equipment operator. The unit’s primary mission was rapid runway repair.
Hook served in Germany on four separate occasions, as well as in Italy, Greece and Honduras.
“His stateside service spanned too many states to count, including missions in both Alaska and Hawaii,” Schwartfigure said.
Hook said he still couldn’t say why he enlisted and that during the mid-‘70s the public held a poor opinion of military service.
“Why did I join?” Hook said. “I don’t really know why. It was almost 50 years ago today, Aug. 29, 1976. The Vietnam era was just over. We had just gone all-volunteer. I don’t have any idea why I joined. I did, and I don’t regret any – any bit of it.”
Hook shared stories from an uncle who was taken prisoner during the Ardennes Offensive, more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge, in January 1945.
“They didn’t talk about it – and I regret not talking to him,” he said.
His father also served during the war in the South Pacific. He recounted asking his father about it and hearing a story of when his position took direct artillery fire.
“I was scared to death,” Hook quoted his father. “I jumped in one foxhole with somebody who’s dead, then I jumped in another one and jumped (back) in his. After that, I was thinking about cutting the buttons off of my blouse so I could get closer to the ground.”
Hook recounted his own time serving in Honduras, where his unit engaged in several civil engineering projects to improve safety and quality of life for local people living in extreme poverty.
“Putting septic systems in schools,” he said. “The villages there, they had houses that were made of cardboard, anything they could find, you know, just put together. People would carry their water from the creek. You could see the women walking with (buckets). They were quite grateful that we were there.”
He finished by relating how men in his unit had taken out a truck with a large water sprayer on it to keep dust down on the dirt runway – not realizing how wasteful this looked to the local women who were hauling their cooking and wash water in buckets from a nearby stream.
“Then (the commander) said, ‘You’re going to stop in that town,’ which we weren’t allowed to do, ‘you guys are going to go in that little store and you’re going to spend at least $50 each,’” he said.
Hook asked anyone in the audience who might qualify for VA benefits to reach out to the county Veterans Service Commission, even if they never saw combat.
“Uncle Sam makes these choices, whether you’re going to go to combat – or your unit,” he said. “Our job is to train and be ready to do that job – and that’s what we all did.”
