Smith: US Navy gives another Santa Rosa native a combat ship to captain

Mere weeks ago, Santa Rosa native Brett Crozier assumed command of the floating naval air base known as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. And now this:

A second former Santa Rosan, James Hoey, is settling in as captain of a new combat ship, the USS Charleston.

Hoey, who graduated from Montgomery High in 1997, and Crozier, an '88 grad of Santa Rosa High, once again call the same place home: The Charleston and the Theodore Roosevelt both are based in San Diego.

Someone mighty proud of Hoey is his former piano teacher in Santa Rosa, Michelle McNally. She instructed him for about three years.

“He was a hardworking young boy then. Very focused and hard on himself,” McNally said.

Young Hoey also was a gifted swimmer. His years on the Santa Rosa Neptunes prepared him for the swim team at the Naval Academy, to which he received a presidential nomination.

“He just has a love for the water,” says his beaming mother, Shirley Ann Hoey. Her husband, John, a Navy officer for nearly 30 years, died in 2011.

One of James Hoey's two sisters, Cheryl Ann Glivar of Eagle, Idaho, said he's “very calm and very good with people - and he knows his stuff back and forth.”

Hoey, 40, begins his first command aboard the formidable, 421-foot-long, 3,200-ton Charleston. Commissioned just last March, it's equipped to take on fast-moving enemy craft, submarines and mines.

The new captain's former music teacher in Santa Rosa wonders if there's perhaps a piano on board.

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‘SMOKE SOLDIERS' is the name of a new song. It's also the name of a movement to demonstrate, in a sustained way, one's gratitude to the first responders who've stood between us and historically horrific wildfires.

“These guys have bailed us out twice,” says “Smoke Soldiers” founder David Benjamin Gruenbaum of Santa Rosa.

He and some supporters are selling “Smoke Soldiers” shirts, CDs and stickers, then donating the profits to causes close to the hearts of first responders. At present, Gruenbaum is contributing proceeds to “Toys for Kids,” a gift campaign of Santa Rosa's Local 1401 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Check out the “Smoke Soldiers” goods and music video at smokesoldiers.org.

Gruenbaum, whose day job is tutoring students for college entrance exams, also invites all to take part in Smoke Soldiers Day on Dec. 18.

That day, at least four Santa Rosa restaurants will encourage employees to wear “Smoke Soldiers” apparel, and diners will be able to buy the T-shirts, hoodies and other merchandise. Confirmed to participate are the East West Restaurant on Summerfield Road, Yulupa Avenue's Superburger, Los Tres Chiles and Trattoria Cattaneo.

Gruenbaum, who following the Tubbs fire lifted spirits with a song, “I Love Santa Rosa,” got some serious help with the “Smoke Soldiers” song.

The lead singer is Ben Dixon of Pokémon fame, and the arranging was by Ed Goldfarb, who's composed music for Pokémon, Beach Blanket Babylon and PBS.

Gruenbaum's favorite part of the song:

“Everyone's running out, but you're walking in. Now, it's just the fire and your heartbeat.”

You can contact Chris Smith at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.