La Feria Honors its Veterans

Wounded Warriors Latest Project

This summer has seen a number of events honoring La Feria’s veterans past and present.

There were good turnouts for the Memorial Day and Fourth of July celebrations. A crowd of citizens joined city officials and veterans for the groundbreaking ceremony for the veterans’ memorial in downtown La Feria.

The latest endeavor is the Wounded Warrior Project spearheaded by City Commissioner Eric Hoff. This is a nationwide charity service that finds ways to support veterans with military service injuries and their families.

“The program offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans of military actions following September 11, 2001,” he explained, adding: “it operates as a nonprofit 501 organization, and is accountable for all tax deductible donations received.”

Commissioner Hoff has set up an aluminum can recycling bin donation center in front of his Bottle Shop business east on Business Highway 83. “All the proceeds–100%– go to the national headquarters of the program, and then on to areas of need throughout the country,” he continued. “We’ll raise over $1,000 this year alone.”

Hoff says his interest and support for veterans affairs takes on a personal and poignant nature because of his father, who was a decorated World War II U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

“One of the first things people ask me is ‘am I a veteran?’ “My answer is that I graduated from High School in 1977, and was too young to serve in the Vietnam War and, then too old for the Middle Eastern wars. No, I’m not a veteran, but I’m a patriot.” He added: “However, my father served in the South Pacific during World War II, as a staff sergeant with the United States Marine Corps. Let me tell you about him. From him I learned to respect veterans.”

“My father, Staff Sergeant Darold Gene Hoff, never talked about his war experience like so many modest veterans of that war didn’t,” he said. “We didn’t know much about what he did. He came home and went to work, raised a family and passed away at 63 when I was in my mid-twenties.”

“But recently [almost 30 years after his death], my sister and I discovered that our Dad had fought at Tarawa, a Japanese Island in the South Pacific” he said, adding, “that bloody battle lasted only 4-days with 35,000 Marines involved with nearly 1,000 of them lost. My father experienced that. That is why I understand veterans, and want to do what I can to help. This Wounded Warrior Project is one way—that’s why I’m involved.”

Anyone wishing to donate aluminum cans for recycling can drop them off at the donation bin in front of the Bottle Shop on east Business 83 in La Feria. Got questions about it? Call 956 797 5700.