CHAPTER CHATTER
The Official Newsletter of the
Shenandoah Valley Chapter #313
Korean War Veterans Association
Volume 13, Issue 02
Paul E. Bombardier, Editor
February, 2020
Charles R. Hoak RIP
Condolences to the Hoak Family
Charles Rhodes Hoak, 87, of Frederick County, Virginia, passed away on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at his home.
He was born on March 20, 1932; the son of Roy R. and Agnes R. Anderson Hoak. He grew up in Gore with his twin brother and older sister and graduated from Gore High School. He took a post-graduate course as a member of the first class of James Wood High School while waiting for the Army to draft him. He went into the Army in September, 1952 and served as a part of Charlie Company, 1343rd Engineer Combat Battalion. He received the Korean Service Medal with two bronze service stars, served as Company Clerk, and was honorably discharged in March of 1954 as a Technical Sergeant.
Following his discharge, he went to Washington DC and worked for the DC Air National Guard at Andrews Air force Base, where he kept inventory of supplies for the 113th Field Maintenance Squadron. After that he went to VDOT Fairfax County as permit inspector for contractors doing work within the state right of way. He attended Strayer College, and later took additional engineering courses at UVA and George Washington University.
He joined the 2070th ARASU DC and served an additional eight years at the USAR Judge Advocate School at Fort Mead as operations manager. Following his separation from the Guard, he went to Chesterfield County as chief inspector for a $20,000,000 trunk line sewer project. Then he implemented a plan to alleviate duplicate street/property names for Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield Counties to improve mail delivery, police, fire, and rescue services.
He was employed by the FAA to prepare for the opening and the open-house dedication ceremony for the new Dulles Airport. There were over 100,000 people expected including President John F. Kennedy, former presidents Eisenhower, Truman, and Hoover, Senators, Congress members, foreign and domestic Ambassadors, as well as the general public.
He spent twenty-six years with Gilles and Cotting Inc, a Falls Church construction company, serving as project manager or superintendent on many projects including the Lebanese Pavilion for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, an 18 month program at the White House during the Nixon Administration, 16 months on the Crisis Center at the Pentagon, converted the gymnasium at Longworth House US Senate Office Building. He restored a tornado damaged airplane hangar at Andrews AFB and several projects at Reagan and Dulles Airports. He received the prestigious “Subby” Award