I am a private person, and you can see from my posting history that I have kept to myself pretty much since the 2000 election. That said, I hope that someone will refer this post to others—the reason: to give everyone a glimpse into the character of Kevin Hogg, the father of David Hogg.
First, I have to say, that I viscerally oppose EVERYTHING I have heard come from the mouth of David Hogg. BUT...as I am glad that all the misdeeds of my youth are not attributed to my Pa, I don’t attribute David’s deeds to his father.
Kevin Hogg, David Hogg’s father was a close friend of mine. we were both aviators in a navy helicopter squadron. He was an active-duty reservist, while I was active duty. I got out in 94 because they were trying to get rid of pilots that year, and as a a young man I did not respond well to take-it-or-get-the-f*k-out kind of offers. Kevin was different—as reservists, the Navy just let them all go.
Kevin Hogg was a top-rated officer, and in fact, I recall that he received some sort of honor as one of the best reservist officers navy-wide. It was well deserved. Everything about him was authentic, super-competent, and real. But the “Peace dividend” was George H. W. Bush’s and Bill Clinton’s ticket to saving money at the expense of military readiness. Hence, I got pissed and left, and Kevin got let go. I have to say also, that if you find ANYONE who served with Kevin (we were in Helicopter Combat Support Squadron One), NONE will have ANYTHING negative to say about him. I wish I had his reputation. I was pretty stupid, and reviews on me would be far less positive.
He was single at the time, ‘94, and made the drive with my golden retriever and me in a u-haul truck to TX to find a job so I could support my family. The defense industry had tanked. I had a 3 year-old daughter, and Kevin an old-school photographer took some of the treasured photos of me and my daughter that we have on our walls now. I hope I can put to rest the fables that David is a 25 year old crisis-actor. When he was taking pictures of me and my daughter, he wasn’t yet married. As far as I know, Kevin did not have any children before 1997.
When we got out, we both flailed for a while...he tried substitute teaching for a while, and I remember his horror stories about “The Hungarian Twins”. Clearly this was not his calling. His wife was a public school teacher, and although I understood she was kind of a far-lefty, she was pleasant, and I know Kevin adored her.
While I tried to find work in TX, Kevin was interviewing with the FBI, and watched women and minorities get hired while he languished. He got hired finally, like a year after interviewing. Most of his peers wanted to be stationed in sleepy bedroom communities like Port Orchard, etc, but Kevin was the one guy in his graduating class at the FBI Academy that WANTED to be stationed in L.A. (his parent lived there). He did all kinds of harrowing drug busts with pitbulls, etc. in that capacity. Then he went on to be the FBI Agent in charge of LAX. When I called him to chat He was routinely yelling to somebody to “grab that guy in the blue jacket”, etc. Once when I asked if it was a good time to talk, he said they just had a bunch of “white powder” show up, and that it was a good time to talk because everything was going to be shut down for hours.
Lastly, a year ago, my daughter disappeared, albeit briefly. I called Kevin, hoping he would have access to intel that could help me find her. He immediately helped me locate her, and establish that she was OK. It was a false alarm, but I was grateful that he was able
and willing to help. I hadn’t talked to him in years, but like a true veteran brother, he did all he could to help. That was when he told me that he had been diagnosed with Parkinsons, and that he would be medically retiring from the FBI and was concerned for the welfare of his family. Note: while I expect he made roughly 100K/yr since about 1998, I know that he and his wife made a bunch of money on a SoCal house they bought and later sold. Nothing suspicious about their wealth...just good timing.
Regardless of the actions of, and attention on his son, Kevin Hogg is an exceptional veteran and friend. To my knowledge he was not liberally inclined, and though perhaps tolerant of those ideas, he was not the source. I suspect his TEACHERS are responsible for the Social Justice values he espouses.
The entire point of my post is to draw attention away from the star-struck leftist son, and to provide some perspective, especially on his patriotic, brave, loyal, wonderful father.
Thank God that my father was not accredited with the stupid stuff I did in my youth. I hope that Kevin’s reputation will not be tarnished by his kid’s independant actions.
Regards,
Redquill
Very well done and from the heart. We veterans are blood brothers to the end unless and until stabbed in the back ala McCain and Kerry.
Unfortunately, parents tend to be put under the microscope when their offspring turn into filth. Sometimes justified and sometimes not. That’s life.