1 of 2
Heroism on display
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason C. Hicks—the son of Theresa Hicks, a trustee at Lynches River Electric Cooperative—was one of the first veterans to be honored with a kiosk display in the lobby of the ECSC building. Jason died in a helicopter crash during a medical evacuation mission in Afghanistan in 2003.
2 of 2
Remembering the fallen
SCWIRE sponsored this 2019 Memorial Day display outside the offices of The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina in Cayce. It featured 20 crosses with flags in honor of the veterans from all 20 of the state’s electric cooperatives who gave their lives in service to the nation.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason C. Hicks was born to Theresa S. Hicks and the late J. Carroll Hicks on May 1, 1977. Growing up in Pageland and Jefferson, Jason was a Central High School graduate and a member of the Pageland Rescue Squad, as well as the High Point Eastside Fire Department.
On May 1, 1996, Jason enlisted in the Air Force and was assigned to the 41st Rescue Squadron. Trained as a flight engineer, Staff Sgt. Hicks took part in deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002 and 2003. He flew on numerous combat support missions, helping save the lives of American and coalition soldiers and airmen. On March 23, 2003, Staff Sgt. Jason C. Hicks died in a HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five other airmen during a medical evacuation mission in Afghanistan.
---
Jason’s mother, Theresa Hicks, loves talking about her son.
“Oh, Jason was a live wire. He kept me on my toes,” his mother remembers fondly. “He wasn’t bad—he was just mischievous. He was the baby of our family—the third child of three after a 10-year pause, so Jason was everybody’s baby.”
“When Jason was graduating from high school, he didn’t know what he wanted to do. But one day he came home and said, ‘I’m going to join the Air Force.’ And he ended up making a career of it.”
Speaking to a group of veterans this past Memorial Day, Theresa referred to a quote by writer David Eagleman: “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.”
Theresa is determined that her son’s name continues to be spoken.
In 2018, the members of South Carolina Women Involved in Rural Electrification (SCWIRE) began planning a project to honor the men and women in our nation’s military—both those who have served and those who continue to serve our country.
In remembrance of her son, Theresa (a Lynches River Electric Cooperative trustee and a member of SCWIRE) was the very first to sign up for the SCWIRE “Honor Our Veterans” project, creating a virtual plaque for Jason that helps keep his name alive forever.
SCWIRE’s “Honor Our Veterans” is an ongoing project that features a permanent indoor display in the recently remodeled lobby of The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC) in Cayce.
It also features an annual outdoor display to be shared with the public during the week of Memorial Day.
The indoor display consists of an interactive monitor that displays veterans from all 20 of South Carolina’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives. A timed software program transitions between multiple images: the state with all cooperatives represented, and the cooperative pages that display two types of plaques, “In Honor Of” and “In Memory Of.”
Each nameplate is electronically linked to a photo and short biography of the honoree, much like the one that tells the story of Staff Sgt. Jason C. Hicks.
“I feel like as long as people are saying his name, he is still with us,” says Theresa.