Gabe Hooker
Hillsdale is a place that claims to foster discussion of great ideals and beliefs. Next year, Pfc. Gabe Hooker, a junior, will go beyond discussion to risking his life in Iraq for the ideals he holds.
Hooker completed basic training at 11 Bravo school last summer and trained in MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain).
“I fire the weapons and I do most of the fighting—kicking doors in, shooting people,” Hooker said. “[I was trained] how to fight, how to do ground warfare. It’s not the same as fighting against a mass. Here, you’re actually looking for your enemy, because they’re very, very sleek, very smart in how they attack us.” Hooker said the main danger he will face is the threat of rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices—bombs planted on the side of the road in the form of “coke cans, magazines, dead animals filled with explosives,” he said.
Insurgents also use a method Hooker calls “spray and pray” where a clip of ammunition is unloaded at a convoy or a group of soldiers while on the run, with hopes that the bullets will hit a soldier or damage equipment.
Hooker will attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) in March 2006 and head to outer Baghdad in May or July. Since the length of his deployment is uncertain, Hooker said he wants to make the most of his time in the U.S. before he heads out.
“It’s the time here that you treasure,” Hooker said. “As much as you’re fighting for your country, you’re also fighting to see your family and friends again. If I go over and I die, then at least I enjoyed the time that I had here.”
Hooker said he believes the things worth dying for are also worth living for.
“If I don’t die, I get to come back to my friends and my family, and that’s what is going to keep me alive when I’m in Iraq,” he said. “It’s seeing people that I care about again.”
Senior Nathaniel Hooker, Gabe’s older brother, has mixed feelings about Gabe’s choice.
He said he is proud his brother is going, but added he was still worried for his safety.
“It’s very patriotic,” Nathaniel said. “He’s definitely prepared to go. [I’m] a little nervous. You don’t want to see his name on the news in a bad way.”
Sophomore Joe Schoonover, a housemate and friend of Hooker’s, said, “as his friend, I would hope he could stay here. But I know as well as he that if he’s called, it’s his duty to go. I hope and pray he stays safe no matter where he goes.”
Hooker said he will be trusting on more than his training during deployment.
“You put your trust and your faith in God, because He’s the only one who can take care of it,” he said. “My family will be praying a lot. My friends will be praying a lot. I’m going to be praying a lot, ‘God, please take care of my family, take care of me, let me see them again.’”
Recently, Hooker was informed he is eligible to take a written and physical OCS test, which, if passed with high scores, could allow him to remain in the U.S.