San Mateo County honors its veterans

His time in the Air Force indubitably shaped his life, he said in a speech. 

“My service in the Air Force was a dramatic change, and it had an important role in the rest of my life. It made it possible to be a graduate from college, it paid for my college education. It made it possible for me to buy my first home,” Hoover said. “And it certainly was one of the reasons that I’ve spent close to 62 years now working with kids and trying to provide them with the same kind of experience and opportunity that I had in this country.” 

Hoover, a longtime East Palo Alto resident, worked as the community service coordinator and started the Youth Development Center, helping students graduate high school at very high rates. 

Across the county, community members are preparing to honor the sacrifices veterans like Hoover have made to protect American citizens. In Half Moon Bay, stories about, and by, veterans and live music were displayed to celebrate the upcoming holiday on Friday. 

On Monday, the American Legion Post 105 Redwood City will host an annual Veterans Day Ceremony, honoring and recognizing veterans from all branches of the military. In Millbrae, the community will come together at 9 a.m. for a special Veterans Day flag raising, and in San Bruno, a Veterans Day observance begins at 11 a.m. at Golden Gate National Cemetery.

Naval Postgraduate School President Ann Rondeau, a retired Vice Admiral and keynote speaker at the veteran’s recognition luncheon, urged attendees — including many veterans — to continue to listen to the stories of those that served in combat, both to honor them and to shape their understanding of the world. 

“They sense things differently, they hear things differently, they smell smells different than anybody else who’s ever been not in combat, they have essentially experienced a war that we need to hear through their stories,” she said. “If we don’t have those stories called honestly, we cannot make the judgments and the decisions that we need to make.” 

The transition from active military service to retirement can be jarring for veterans, Rondeau said, but encouraged them to continue to share their stories, which were of utmost importance for others — especially the younger generations. 

“You feel disaffected and you don’t know about your own integration back into a different place, a sense of purpose, identity, all of that,” she said. “What you bring to everybody is meaningful. And when you bring yourself to the individual stories and make individual voices, you bring something pretty spectacular.”

The San Mateo County Veterans Association also honored the San Mateo Elks Lodge as enterprise of the year, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo as patriot of the year, and Warren Slocum — who worked to found the county’s Veterans Commission — with a lifetime achievement award. 

Eshoo has made veterans a cornerstone of her public service, including consistent travels to Iraq and Afghanistan, work with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Fisher House, an organization that provides a private respite for veterans and their families. 

“Those who put the uniform on deserve the entire country to remain with them, not only during their service, but when they come home,” she said. “They deserve the best from the rest of us, and it’s been the honor and privilege of my life to honor their service by my service in public service.”