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Suzanne Ogawa was 2 years old in 1970 when her mother, Mary Hoff, received word that her husband, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael G. Hoff, had been shot down over Laos, leaving her to raise five children alone. It left her with no personal effects, body to bury, or details surrounding his mission. When her world crashed to the ground, like the plane her husband piloted, Hoff\u2019s mission began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her own life of service started at home and broadened from there. She sacrificed and sent her children to a private school to receive an education that would become the foundation of Ogawa\u2019s faith. At the same time, Hoff quietly worked with the families of the missing and with Vietnam veterans as they returned home, service fueled by faith and peace restored to Hoff following her husband\u2019s disappearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have such great examples of service in my parents because [my dad] sacrificed his life for our country,\u201d Ogawa said. \u201cBut my mother sacrificed everything for us. She fought for them and my dad. She supported our veterans because they weren\u2019t welcomed home. They were spit on and had no support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hoff assisted her son during his battle with brain\u00a0cancer and spent 25 years serving people experiencing homelessness. Her last battle was with Parkinson\u2019s disease, and again, she fought faithfully and with a joyful spirit. She passed away in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 2000s, she asked Ogawa to represent the family at a Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) update meeting. It was an opportunity to review a three-inch file on her mother\u2019s efforts and a small bit on her father\u2019s disappearance. Ogawa saw the depths of her mother\u2019s battle with new eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was a Western Union telegram that my mother sent to Henry Kissinger and letters and Freedom of Information Act [requests] that she filed for us because there was lots of cover-up at the time. My dad was shot down over Laos, and we weren\u2019t supposed to be at war with\u00a0Laos. Anger came across [through the file contents] that I\u2019d never really witnessed in my mother because, thank goodness, she rediscovered her faith in God and was able to reconcile and find peace with it, even though she never stopped fighting to bring him home,\u201d Ogawa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many layers to Hoff\u2019s story and her fight to let the forgotten know they\u2019re seen, but it\u2019s not the true heart of the matter. The heart is the heart of the matter, encouraging others to find their calling and service to others and walk in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me, it\u2019s really more about educating people; it\u2019s a history lesson, but I also hope it inspires people to think about how they can serve,\u201d Ogawa said. \u201cPeople have losses for different reasons. We\u2019re not alone in this; we\u2019re all trying to live the best way we can. Arthur Ashe, one of our favorite tennis players, said, \u2018True heroism is remarkably sober and very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.\u2019 Anybody that serves anyone in any capacity, no matter how big or small it is \u2014 that\u2019s what we\u2019re here for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ogawa continues to support POW\/MIA families, and every time the remains of one missing are returned, it stirs hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said, \u201cEvery time I read about another one being brought home, regardless of the conflict, it\u2019s a wonderful thing. It gives us hope. I was there with a fellow MIA daughter [at the burial of the remains of one MIA], and we both shed a tear because we hope one day we get this kind of closure. Even though you\u2019ll still have the loss, it\u2019s nice to have that closure and give them the proper burial you want for your loved one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Letting someone know they\u2019re not forgotten gives hope for every kind of loss. Where might you offer hope today? GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WE\u2019VE SEEN it countless times and may appreciate its significance. We may have looked at it close enough to allow its somber black-and-white design to fill us with some sense of loss or appreciation for the sacrifices made to secure our freedom. Or we may have hurried past it, accustomed to seeing it flying below […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2023\/08\/4-2-1024x683.png\")
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