By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
By design, the military takes you out of your civilian way of life and molds you into a soldier. Each day, you are part of the mission readiness required of your rank in the military. You are told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and what to wear while doing the “it”.
“The military is good at teaching you how to put the uniform on, but they don’t teach you how to take it off,” said Robert Garcia, an Army veteran and board member for Operation Honor Our Local Veterans.
Purposeful living is hard to regain for many of our military veterans once they re-enter the civilian world. This is where various veteran’s organizations play a big role in boosting up the lives of returning military service members.
Operation Honor Our Local Veterans is a Galveston County non-profit that was designed to provide some of the comradeship and motivation veterans had in the military. Included in the mission is honoring veterans for their military service and encouraging them in continued service to society as civilian servant leaders.
Navy veteran and founder of Operation Honor our Local Veterans, Fidencio Leija jumped into college after he left the Navy and credits his direction in life to a professor at College of the Mainland, who was also a veteran.
Leija went on to complete a bachelor’s degree at Texas State where he was again guided by a professor (“Lawrence Estaville took me under his wing,” said Leijas) who also served in the military.
Never forgetting the support he had received, Leija organized his thoughts into a master plan for helping local veterans. “I believe the future of veterans is in the hands of veterans opening doors for others,” he said.
Forming a non-profit with the insight of legal counsel from Mark Ciavaglia and wrangling up veterans to serve as the board members was completed in 2018. Last November marked the Second Annual Operation Honor Our Local Veterans. Plans are already underway for this year’s edition.
The daylong event included meals for everyone, a parade, entertainment, fireworks, and time spent honoring the nearly 120 veterans in attendance and their families. “We often don’t give our Veterans enough recognition and this event was a good way to show them they are appreciated in a relaxed format,” said Randy Strickland, Mayor of Hitchcock.
Ten veterans were given special recognition for their continued service to the nation as servant leaders in the community.
“When we serve others, we feel a sense of purpose,” said Garcia.
Service to the community can be anything from supporting their children’s athletic teams, to volunteering at church or other community service enterprises. Some of the veterans are inspired to go into a service-oriented career, such as Garcia as an EMT. He also is planning to go onto medical school.
Army Veteran and owner of Galco hardware, Scott Eckenrode, is honored to participate in one of the recognition projects. “I watch veterans come up and salute the parking sign, they just feel good about being honored and it makes me feel good,” he said.
Lunch on Us was an event held after the hard freeze that fed over 800 people and distributed collected PVC fittings to those who needed the parts. The event was open to everyone not just veterans, though it was sponsored by Operation Honor Our Local Veterans.
Realizing veterans’ needs go beyond moral support, the group also funds assistance for rent, utilities, and food for veterans in need. Funds for the recognition and assistance come from private organizations such as Del Papa and ACU of Texas.
For the future, Leijas confidently declares, “We plan to continue our projects while finding additional partners and we hope to start chapters in neighboring counties,”
