Page 6 - Dinuba Sentinel E-edition 5-17-18

A6| Thursday, May 17, 2018
Honor Flight Continued from Page A1
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veterans never received after their service.
Jury called it a “rewarding experience.”
“I somewhat refused to come for years,” Jury explained about the Honor Flight. “I said, ‘No, there are so many other veterans that should go before me.’ Actually, I had no contact with the enemy, so to speak. The other veterans’ lives were really changed. My life was really improved by my service.”
That improvement started as a football player at Fresno State. Then in 1949 Jury accepted a job as a teacher and football coach at Orosi High School, earning less than $3,000 for the year at the time. He spent three seasons with the Cardinals, coaching Orosi High legend George Milhorn and several other players who went on to play college football.
Jury was in attendance when the OHS stadium was named after his former player.
“Orosi is not a very big town,” Jury recalled. “My first team, I think I had 26 players, something like that. I started a little program that I got all the freshmen together and I wanted them to play.”
As Jury’s young team grew, they would win a Southern Sequoia League Championship under his watch and send several players to play for big-time college football programs.
“As juniors, we won the league championship and that was my last year there," Jury said. It just happened that two of my players got scholarships – both halfbacks – one went to Cal and one went to Stanford. In the freshmen game when they played each other, the score was 19-14 and those two kids scored all the points.”
The early success of the OHS program may not have happened if not for his wife of 67 years, Gloria.
“I told my wife that I wasn’t teaching school anymore unless we got married,” Jury said. “She was an airline stewardess and she quit her job to go to Orosi, so she made the sacrifice.”
Jury’s other fond memories in Orosi included a Life Magazine cover story that named Orosi and
its 16 millionaires as the “richest small community in America.”
“It’s not that way now,” Jury commented.
Jury’s next job was at Clovis High School. Jury took his Clovis team to Orosi for a game against his former Cardinals the next season, but a storm knocked out the power to Orosi’s new lights, calling the game early after it began.
“I said, ‘Oh, that’s good,’” Jury said. “I wanted to win the game, but I didn’t want those guys to lose. That was a good (Orosi) team their senior year. Kids went all over, to Stanford, Cal, Montana State, Arizona. I think five of those kids went onto D-I football from that freshman group I pushed.”
Also on the Central Valley Honor Flight was Chic Brooks, 90, who founded local restaurant chains such as Perko’s in Dinuba, and Reedley’s Brooks Ranch.
Brooks joined the Merchant Marines as a 17-year-old from Winsor, Missouri and served on the Victory Ship SS Hobbs Victory. In 1945, the ship was sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack near Okinawa. The attack claimed the lives of 16 of his shipmates, while Brooks was stranded in the water for an hour until a friendly face came to the rescue.
“I had went to school with him three years before when I was in the 8th grade,” Brooks said.
“IwentinwhenIwas17.I was on a ship that got sunk just beforeIwas18.Igotalotof experience in a hurry. At 17, you don’t realize what’s happening, really – no fear because you aren’t old enough to be scared of anything. But you learn to appreciate people like these guys.”
Since his service, Brooks has launched 26 restaurant chains, with a single restaurant chain having as many as 66 locations across the Western United States. In recent years, he has attempted to sell off many of his eateries, some to family, but at 90 he still works seven days a week to operate 10 restaurants - including Brooks Ranch in Reedley - with about 120 employees.
Of his Honor Flight experience, Brooks said, “It was fantastic. It
will wear you out, two days in a row, but I wouldn’t miss it. It was averynicetripandImetalot of nice people. It took me back a few years.”
While Jury and Brooks were celebrated for their service during World War II, one of the most emotional moments on the trip was the stop at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, of which a half- scale replica stands in Dinuba. The only noticeable differences in the Washington D.C. Wall and the recently paid-off $177,000 replica in Dinuba are its size and landscaping. The replica at the Dinuba Memorial Hall is the only of its kind on the West Coast.
Many veterans were brought to tears as they found the names of their fallen friends on the Washington D.C. Wall. Others collapsed to their knees as their emotions became uncontrollable.
Central Valley Honor Flight staff member and Vietnam Veteran Bill Goodreau told the veterans, “In World War II, we know that generation as the greatest generation. I say this, we were the most faithful – we were most faithful to America when at times, unfortunately, there were some Americans that were not faithful to us.”
“I could relate,” said Vietnam War veteran David Garcia, 66, of Sanger. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
After seeing the Washington D.C. Wall, and finding the names he was looking for, Garcia said, “It seems like the emptiness I’ve had is being cleared up. It’s like I laid my friends to rest, finally. I think I can handle it a little better – I think.
“I think it’s going to put my mind at ease. I’ve been holding too much back for a long time. I’ve gone through a lot of counseling, but I think this is going to end it all - It feels like this is sacred ground that can finally bring peace to your soul.”
On the flight home to Fresno, the veterans were treated to a “mail call” of letters and gifts from family members, friends, city officials, students and more, concluding with the big welcome home in Fresno.
“That was even better than Washington D.C.,” one veteran exclaimed.
Photos by Jackson Moore | The Sentinel
ABOVE: Former Orosi High School football coach Jerry Jury talks with officials at the World War II Memorial.
BELOW: Vietnam War veteran Daniel Garcia, 66, of Sanger, points to the name of his friend who died in battle during the Vietnam War, listed on the Wall Memorial in Washington D.C. BOTTOM: Chic Brooks, founder of local restaurants such as Perko's and Brooks Ranch, participates in the wreath laying ceremony on Victory in Europe Day in Washington D.C.
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