Spring Branch ISD Navy Jr. ROTC Cadets Honor Military Veterans

Holding flags, ROTC cadets stand with Rep. Ted Poe.

Seven student cadets with Spring Branch ISD’s Navy Jr. ROTC program based at the district’s Guthrie Center attended the Honor Our Heroes program held at Trini Mendenhall Sosa Community Center on Aug. 20.

The program, sponsored by U.S. Congressman Ted Poe, attracted 35 or more local veterans and active duty military personnel, as well as their family and friends.

The student cadets formed a flag line for veterans and their guests to pass through during arrival. In addition to U.S. Rep. Poe, native Texan and decorated war hero Congressman Samuel Robert “Sam” Johnson, 83, of Plano, Texas, and Texas Rep. Dwayne Bohac of Spring Branch attended the tribute to military heroes.

U.S. Rep. Johnson, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down in his plane over North Vietnam in 1966. He was imprisoned for seven years in the “Hanoi Hilton,” a site used by the North Vietnamese to house, torture and interrogate prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.

The following Navy Jr. ROTC cadets took part in the Honor Our Heroes program:  Jocelyn Fox and Guillian Arroyo, both seniors, and Joseph Castelli, a junior at Spring Woods High School; Stephen Caballero, a senior, and Chris Barron, a sophomore at Westchester Academy for International Studies; Azucena Gonzales, a sophomore at Spring Woods High School; and Abraham Salazar, a senior at Stratford High School.

Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jerry Coufal and Master Chief Mark Heuser lead cadets at the Guthrie Center as program naval science instructors.