Refusal to rehire Hoback is wrong
I’m angry due to the Times Free Press story (Sept. 16) concerning former police officer, and Iraq veteran, Mickel Hoback.
It’s right that the federal court rules in Mr. Hoback’s favor. It’s wrong he wasn’t rehired by the Chattanooga Police Department who fired him, though apparently served very well. He was police officer of the year in 2007
I’m a retired Air Force officer with 1,000 hours of combat flying time. My son, a retired Air Force master sergeant, flew on “Cold War” intelligence-gathering missions over Soviet air space. My grandson is an Army master sergeant, twice in Iraq, with the Purple Heart. We have emotional scars, traumatic stress and bad memories.
My post-military jobs included the Tennessee Department of Corrections. My son is earning his master’s degree and teaches at a military academy. The Army “used its head” and retained my grandson in a job where his combat experience is used.
We were given the opportunity to continue serving in meaningful jobs. Not so, Mr. Hoback. He was good enough to lay his life on the line in the Middle East, yet the CPD doesn’t consider him good enough to use in any investigative or administrative position.