Hector Giron is an active member within the Houston veteran community and is committed to supporting not only veterans but the entire city.
Giron served four years in the Navy and saw combat in the Middle East. Upon retiring from active duty Giron returned to his hometown of Houston, where he began his post active-duty career.
His first civilian job was working for a local non-profit as their sports and family event coordinator. He would work with all the major teams in the city, including the Dynamo, to have current and former servicemen and women invited and honored at games.
“I used to get calls from people that are deployed or coming home, for a week or two and they're like, ‘Hey, do the Astros have an honoree opportunity where I can be recognized for my service?’ I get to nominate guys doing good work, deployed or anybody who's done a lot in the service.”
Now, Giron does a lot of the work on a volunteer basis and uses the connections he made during his time with the non-profit to continue to get servicemen and women recognized.
He has volunteered with the Mission Continues, who Dynamo Charites partners with on a regular basis. Giron was a platoon leader within the organization and worked to help the Independence Heights and Acres Homes neighborhoods recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Recently, Giron was part of a group of volunteers who took 18 World War II veterans from the ages of 93 to 103 for a trip to New Orleans to visit the National World War II Museum.
“Those guys are hard to find now,” Giron said. “The fact that we were able to take them out and show them a good time for a three-day weekend in New Orleans was pretty amazing.”
Giron, who will be honored as the Katz Coffee Hero of the game in Sunday’s match against the LA Galaxy, admits that he finds it hard being the one recognized instead of doing the nomination, but he is thankful for the recognition.
