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Saturday, October 14, 2000

Telephone call from overseas: I survived

By Mary Moreno
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Sylvia Arriaga is relieved that her daughter, Esther Hood (shown in the photograph), survived the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Hood left a message on her husband’s answering machine saying she was OK.

For more than 11 hours on Thursday, Justin Hood didn't know if his wife had survived the Mideast terrorist attack on the USS Cole.
   As fortune had it, Esther Arriaga Hood, 19, of Corpus Christi, safely escaped the bombing that may have killed as many as 17 of her shipmates, including two local men, 22-year-old Ronchester Santiago of Kingsville and 26-year-old Gary Swenchonis Jr. of Rockport.
   "She's OK, other than that, she's very sad and doesn't want to be there right now," Justin Hood said from his home in Norfolk, Va. "Hopefully, I'll get to see her soon."
   Although members of Esther's family believed they wouldn't hear from her directly until Sunday, Justin Hood said he received a call from his wife on Friday, but he wasn't home and she left a message on his answering machine promising to call later.
   "She said to tell her mom that she loves her," Justin said.
   In Corpus Christi, Esther's mother, Sylvia Arriaga, donned a T-shirt bearing a picture of the USS Cole with the words "Defending the World" printed underneath and waited for phone calls from Justin, who was relaying updates on his wife's condition.
   The first message Esther's parents received was from Justin, who only told them her ship had been hit but that he didn't know if she'd been killed or injured.
   The hours that the family spent anxiously awaiting news, Arriaga said, were nerve-wracking and heartbreaking.
   By Thursday evening, the family had received word that Esther had survived.
   On Friday, Arriaga's concern turned to her daughter's emotional well-being.
   "How much of the destruction did she witness?" Arriaga wondered, surrounded by pictures of her three adopted daughters. "How is she going to be able to function later on? There are a lot of prayers being said for her."
   Esther's involvement with the military began in the portable buildings of Miller High School. Pictures of her and Justin, both of whom graduated in 1999, still adorn the walls of a classroom there.
   Arriaga said she encouraged her oldest daughter to join the school's junior ROTC program and that her daughter embraced its values enthusiastically.
   "She always had the perfect posture . . . and her clothes ironed to a T," she said.
   "I encourage them all the time to do whatever they want to do with their lives. God gives you the gift of life and what you do with your life is your gift to Him. (But) I never thought something this horrible would happen."
   Still, Arriaga said she was proud of her daughter's accomplishments.
   "She has done so much in so little time.
   "I would (encourage) her to continue her career, not to be afraid because the Lord is with her."
   At Miller, several senior JROTC students remembered Esther as a quiet, cool and attentive friend.
   "If I had something going on, I would go talk to her," Eudelia Villarreal said. "She was someone you could talk to."
   The Miller seniors said they were concerned for Esther and were keeping up with the latest updates about the USS Cole.
   "At first we didn't think it was true because we thought, 'Who would want to start anything with the U.S.?' " James Garza said.
   They said their friendship with Esther made news about a faraway place seem closer to home.
   "We know someone who was actually there," Daniel Glover said.



Staff writer Mary Moreno can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at morenom@caller.com

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