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Young man would recruit at alma mater
By Phil Trexler, Jim Carney and Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writers
Published on Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
STREETSBORO: Army veteran John Hernandez stood tall outside his Streetsboro home, aging flags hanging at half staff in honor of his son, who died Friday while serving in Iraq.
Army Spc. Jason Hernandez was just turning 21 and doing his usual reconnaissance work when he was killed by a roadside bomb.
The Hernandez home along busy state Route 43 was the focal point Friday afternoon for a stream of friends, relatives and reporters. It was John Hernandez, a three-year Army veteran and active civilian recruiter, who answered reporters' questions about his son's life and death.
The father was working in a Pennsylvania oil field Friday morning when he learned of his son's death. Jason Hernandez had just passed his second anniversary with the Army, where he was an infantry scout. His job was to secure areas for other military personnel.
John Hernandez said he encouraged his son to set goals to achieve success in life. The Army happened to become his son's destination.
''It was his choice. I didn't push him. He knew what he was getting into,'' he said. ''And as far as I'm concerned, he's still with us, he's still an Army soldier, who paid the ultimate price.''
Hernandez, a 2005 Streetsboro High School graduate,echoed much of his father's words in a video he made for the Army in February. He said the military gave him a chance to pay for college and mature.
He married his high school sweetheart, Alisha Brecht, in October.
''I know it's going to make me more of a man with the warrior ethos, loyalty, duty and respect,'' he says on the video. ''It teaches you fundamentals of how to live and be responsible.
''It gives you a good outlook on things. I'm sure you can probably tell that the stress levels are really high at times, but they teach you how to deal with everyday stress levels and things like that.''
The soldier said his decision to enlist was made easier because ''people need us. Not just in our country. There are people who are being oppressed, and we are the nation that stops people from being oppressed.''
He adds, ''My dad supported me a lot. My mom (Uta Hernandez) supported it somewhat. She didn't want me to leave. My friends thought it was cool,'' he said.
Jason Hernandez was a wrestler and football player in his school years. His older sister, Angela, 24, lives in Florida.
His younger brother, 15-year-old sophomore Aaron Hernandez, planned to play in Streetsboro High's varsity football game Friday night against Crestwood. School officials canceled a pep rally for the team after learning of the soldier's death.
School salute
School officials asked students to stand for a moment of silence about 10 a.m. Friday, and grief counselors were made available to students in need.
Some students remembered Hernandez from when he attended the school. Some knew him as one of a handful of alumni serving in the military who received care packages from the school's Rocket Rowdies school spirit group.
He ''was one of those young men who comes in as a normal freshman, and you can see him grow and mature as he got older,'' Principal Jim Montaquila said.
Hernandez was ''so excited to go into the military'' throughout his senior year that the military ''was all he talked about,'' Montaquila said.
He was, his friend Brett McClafferty said, the prototypical soldier.
''He wasn't a follower. At the same time, he respected authority,'' said McClafferty, 19. ''I'm sure he had his worries, but that was only in his head. He never expressed that. One thing about Jason was his confidence, and that's what you need from a soldier.''
After joining the Army, Hernandez often visited the school with recruiters to talk to students about joining the Army, said Montaquila, the school's principal.
''He told about how enthused he was and grateful he was to be part of the armed forces, and how it was changing him,'' the principal said.
Touting military service
One time, Montaquila said, Hernandez spoke to teachers, asking them to encourage students to join the armed services.
Bob Long, a communications teacher at Streetsboro High, said Hernandez was an ''ornery kid nothing malicious'' who ''started to get a focus'' around his junior year.
''I was really proud of him when he came back,'' Long said. ''He was looking good, all dressed up in his Army uniform. You just flashed back to the little kid who came in as a freshman, and (thought) 'Look at him now. He's out there defending our country.'''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com. Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com. Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@
STREETSBORO: Army veteran John Hernandez stood tall outside his Streetsboro home, aging flags hanging at half staff in honor of his son, who died Friday while serving in Iraq.
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