Streetsboro soldier killed in Iraq

Published September 7, 2006
By Jim Carney, Katie Byard and Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writers

Beacon Journal staff writer A U.S. Army soldier from Streetsboro was killed in Iraq today -- his 21st birthday.

A U.S. Army soldier from Streetsboro was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq today -- his 21st birthday -- said friends and family.

Pvt. Jason Hernandez, a 2005 Streetsboro High School graduate, ''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,'' school 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.

Brett McClafferty, 19, a lifelong friend of Hernandez's, said Army officials contacted the soldier's family early this morning, telling them Hernandez was killed.

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.

``He decided he was going to do the Army thing,'' Long said. ``Jason went out and did what he wanted to do.''

After joining the Army, Hernandez, the son of John and Uta 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.

One time, the principal said, Hernandez spoke to teachers, asking them to encourage students to join the armed services.

Long said, ``I was really proud of him when he came back. 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.' ''

Long said it was about 9 a.m. when teachers learned of Hernandez's death. ``It was like we had our legs kicked out from under us, '' Long said.

School officials asked students to stand for a moment of silence about 10 a.m. this morning.

Grief counselors were made available to students.

Some students knew Hernandez when he was a student at 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.

The school plans to honor Hernandez at tonight's home football game against Crestwood.

The soldier's brother, Aaron, a sophomore, plays on the football team, the principal said.

Hernandez, on the Army's Web site, myonegoodreason.com, which promotes joining the service, spoke of why he enlisted.

‘‘I joined the Army basically to get out of my house, give me some adventure, something to do,’’ he said in the video on the Web site.

‘‘It's paying for my college. It gives me a good job and an opportunity meet a lot of cool people and give me some good friends.’’

Hernandez, in the video, said ‘‘I know it's going to make me more of a man.’’

The Army, he said, ‘‘teaches you fundamentals, basically that. How to live. Be responsible.’’

He said he believes ‘‘people need us. . . People need us because they need to be like our country, have their own nation, govern themselves.’’

In the video Hernandez said America is the nation that ‘‘stops people from being oppressed.’’

Hernandez is the fourth member of the armed services with ties to Portage County to die in Iraq.

Others who have been killed with Portage ties are:

-- Marine Lance Cpl. Edward ''Augie'' Schroeder, 23, who was killed in August 2005 and who worked in Streetsboro.

-- Navy Hospitalman Matthew Conte, 22, who was killed in February 2007, a corpsman who had lived in Portage County.

-- Navy Hospitalman Lucas ''Luke'' Emch, 21, of Brimfield Township, who was killed in March 2007.