York Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Veterans

New location for Veterans Day celebration

Veteran and YEC member James Huskey is picture.
YEC member James Huskey has enjoyed attending our Veterans Day Celebration each year. Join him to let your co-op thank you for your service on Friday, Nov. 11, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., at American Legion Post 34 at 524 Heckle Blvd. in Rock Hill. Photo by Porter Gable

Active and former members of our Armed Services, please join us at American Legion Post 34 at 524 Heckle Blvd. in Rock Hill on Friday, Nov. 11, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for our 7th Annual Veterans Day Celebration. Our registration area will be marked, so simply look for our signs. Google Map

Can’t attend?

Please provide your information via the form link below to receive your bill credit if you cannot attend in person.

Please bring a copy of your power bill and your DD-214, military ID, or proof of enlistment, to receive a special gift and a $20 power bill credit. These are just small tokens of our appreciation for the service, sacrifice, dedication, and fearlessness each of our veterans has given so that we can enjoy our freedom.

We’re moving! YEC will no longer host its Annual Veterans Day Celebration at each of its office locations in an effort to make traffic safer and registration easier for you.

Because of the increased number of members, we have been able to thank and serve each year, we will now host our celebration at one location in Rock Hill, with room to park, register, and meet other veterans easily. We hope to see you there!

 

Save the dates!

Plan to join us for three upcoming 2021 events: the second annual Hot Dogs for Heroes lunch, Shred Day, and our Veterans Day celebration. Follow YEC on social media, and help us spread the news. As a Touchstone Energy® cooperative, we’re deeply committed to the communities we serve and this commitment is expressed in ways that touch almost every facet of our members’ lives.

YEC staffer serving law enforcement officer hot dogs.Friday, Sept. 17—2nd Annual Hot Dogs for Heroes Lunch

YEC will partner with Hungry Heroes to feed the men and women who serve and protect our community each day. First responders are invited to join us for lunch from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at YEC’s main office, 1385 E. Alexander Love Highway in York.

YEC staff helping member with paper to be shredded.Saturday, Oct. 9—Shred Day

Visit YEC’s main office or Carolina Shred’s office at 1682 Katy Lane in Fort Mill from 9 a.m. until noon to safely and securely dispose of unwanted documents. Limit two boxes per car.

Thursday, Nov. 11—Veterans Day Celebration

YEC member veteran smiling from car.Join YEC during our 6th Annual Veterans Day Celebration, honoring all active and former members of our Armed Services. Attend at either our York or Fort Mill office from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. with a copy of your power bill, your DD-214, military ID or proof of your enlistment on Veterans Day. As a token of our appreciation for your service and sacrifice, we will provide a small gift and a $20 power bill credit.

From the front lines to power lines

Electric co-ops care about veterans.

Electric co-ops have had a special affinity for veterans. Perhaps because they are both so closely aligned in outlook: focusing on service, mission and country. Maybe it’s because a disproportionate number of veterans come from rural communities and return to their hometowns following active duty. Or, maybe it’s due to the shared work ethic of teamwork, cooperation and a “get it done” attitude. Most likely, it is all of the above.

Network of caring

At YEC, we are among more than 900 electric co-ops across the country to support and honor our nation’s veterans of all generations. We are grateful to have veterans within our ranks, and we are proud to serve veterans and their families within our local community. In addition to providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity, we care for the veteran community in a variety of ways. Recently, YEC had the pleasure of hiring Brent Hollingsworth as a lineman. Brent served as Army Ranger, 1st Battalion, for over eight years. We are certainly thankful for his service to our country and to YEC!

We are not alone in our efforts to honor and serve veterans. As part of our national network of electric cooperatives, spanning 47 states and covering 75 percent of the nation’s landmass, there are countless programs that our family of co-ops has initiated. At the national level, we support the “Serve Our Co-ops; Serve Our Country” program, a nationwide initiative aimed at employing and honoring veterans, military-service members and their spouses. This program came with a great vision of forming a national coalition with the shared goal of hiring veterans into co-op jobs across rural and suburban America and setting them up for success in local communities.

Many programs, one purpose

Richard I. Damron
Richard I. Damron, YEC member, was one of the many WWII veterans to participate in the Honor Flight sponsored by S.C. electric co-ops. Photo: Porter Gable

At the local level, electric co-ops across America have created their own programs tailored to the unique needs of their community. YEC, along with our fellow S.C. electric co-ops and like many electric co-ops, sponsored Honor Flights in 2012 at no charge enabling veterans from the Korean conflict and WWII to visit war memorials in Washington, D.C..

A commitment to supporting and caring for veterans is apparent at every electric co-op across this great nation. We at YEC are proud to be a part of the cooperative network that honors and supports veterans of all ages, ranks and branches of the military. And, we look forward to honoring our veterans who are members of YEC on Friday, November 10. Veterans who come into our offices with proper identification from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. will receive a $20 YEC bill credit and a special gift. Please help us spread the word to the veterans in your family and community.

Paul Basha, YEC President and Chief Executive Officer
Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer

We look forward to visiting with and honoring our veterans on Friday, November 10.

Paul Basha

Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer

Related Topics:
2012 Honor Flight
Serve Our Co-ops; Serve Our Country

Honor Flight heroes

From The Citadel to the jungles of Burma

Lee G. Smoak Jr.
AGE: 86
TOWN: Rock Hill, SC
MILITARY SERVICE: U.S. Army
CO-OP AFFILIATION: York Electric Cooperative

Lee G. Smoak Jr.
Lee G. Smoak Jr.

World War II was in full swing by the time Lee Smoak finished high school in Orangeburg. The 16-year-old figured he was almost certain to be drafted, so he decided to prepare for life in the military by heading off to college at The Citadel. Sure enough, by his sophomore year, Smoak was drafted into the U.S. Army.

Although the war saw the transformation and modernization of military machinery, Smoak’s early experiences were a throwback to a bygone era. He trained at Fort Riley, Kan., as part of the Army’s last unit of mounted cavalry. When he and his fellow soldiers were given their eventual wartime assignment, Smoak recalls, they were told, “Boys, you’re going overseas. But you can’t take your horses.”

“The horses were put out to pasture in Kansas, and we became infantry soldiers,” says Smoak.

American- and Chinese-manned M4 Sherman tanks travel on the Burma Road, circa 1945.
American- and Chinese-manned M4 Sherman tanks travel on the Burma Road, circa 1945.

He served in India, Burma and China, where his most memorable combat experience was a battle for a mountain overlooking the Burma Road. The Japanese had occupied a heavily fortified hill, and under the leadership of 1st Lt. Jack Knight, Smoak’s company commander, the American troops took it back. Knight was killed leading a heroic charge during the battle and posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Smoak credits his military training at The Citadel and his youth for helping him remain calm and follow orders in battle.

“You’re scared alright,” he says of combat, adding, “Being so young, you didn’t question anything your superiors said. You just did it. You didn’t think about the fear or the fact that you might be killed.”

Smoak was stationed in Kunming, China, when the war ended and recalls how the news unfolded: “We were watching a movie one night. It was one of those old ones where you had to change the reel after the first reel was done. While the reel was getting changed out, someone came bursting through the door and said, ‘The grapevine says the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and they’re going to surrender.’ ”

Official word would come the next day, but that night, it was just a rumor, so the men immediately turned their attention back to changing the movie reel. “We were more interested in seeing Rita Hayworth,” Smoak laughs.

After the war, Smoak returned to The Citadel to complete his degree and went to work in the textile machinery business. Today, he lives in Rock Hill and serves as a mentor for students at his alma mater. “They’re on my daily prayer list,” he says. —BAKER MAULTSBY

How to buy the book

2012 Honor Fight souvenir bookElectric cooperatives in South Carolina sponsored an Honor Flight of 100 World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2012. Purchase the souvenir book of the trip containing a profile and portrait of each veteran by mailing a check made payable to “Electric Cooperatives of S.C.” Honor Flight Book, 808 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce, SC 29033 Price: $29.95 per copy, includes sales tax and shipping.
Related Topics:
Honor Flight