STREETSBORO, OH, USA U.S. Army CPL, TROOP A, 1ST SQUADRON, 9TH CAVALRY, 4 BCT, FORT BLISS, TX MOSUL, IRAQ 09/07/2007
Army Corporal Jason J. Hernandez died on September 7, 2007 while serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was killed on his twenty-one years birthday. Jason was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Regiment based in Fort Bliss, Texas. He and two other soldiers died in Mosul, Iraq from wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.
Jason was a 2005 graduate of Streetsboro High School. He stayed in contact with his high school connections via a school spirit group called the Rocket Rowdies. The group provides support to their alumni serving in the military services. His school contacts recognized Jason’s growth and success. Jason’s younger brother Aaron, was a junior varsity football player and was honored as he represented his brother as the team’s honorary captain and coin toss at one of their games. Fireworks that followed the game were dedicated in Jason’s honor.
Jason’s father, John Hernandez, is a combat veteran who works as a civilian recruiter for the Army, according to Budzik. The family has an unlisted phone and could not be contacted.
Jason was born September 7, 1986 in Highland Park, Ill. He was raised in Streetsboro, Ohio where he was a 2005 graduate of Streetsboro High School. Jason was a very accomplished athlete who competed on the high school wrestling team and had played football since he was in middle school. He married his high school sweetheart Alisha (Becht) Hernandez on October 16, 2006, Alisha’s birthday. Jason’s family and friends remember him as happy, outgoing, energetic, and a young man who loved his life and everyone in it. He had a big heart and much love for everyone he knew. Jason would do anything in his power to make people smile. He was very devoted and dedicated to his work as a soldier. He would write home and stress how important it was for him and all of his fellow brothers to keep his family, friends, and the entire country safe. Jason truly believed in protecting America. He was a very loyal, loving young man. He served with honor and dedication.
He is survived by his wife, Alisha Hernandez of Shalersville Twp., Ohio; parents, John and Uta Hernandez; sister, Angela and brother, Aaron, all of Streetsboro, Ohio; in-laws, Paul and Ruth Becht; and brother in-law, Adam Becht, all of Shalersville Twp.; grandmother, Renate Obst of Nuremberg, Germany, grandfather, Manfred Mueller of Frankfurt, Germany, grandmother, Patricia Valerio of Mexico, grandfather, John Hernandez, Sr. of Waukegan, Ill.; and special aunts, Eva Sieber and Susanne Mueller of Germany, and countless friends.
Effective 5/31/2010 the 128th Ohio General Assembly public legislation designated that portion of the road known as state route number forty-three, running in a northerly and southerly direction within Portage county, between the intersection of that state route and Ethan avenue in the north and the intersection of that state route and Kennedy road in the south, shall be known as the “Corporal Jason J. Hernandez Memorial Highway.”