"Johnny Yocham, San Antonio Jewel and American Hero"

My name is Kevin Matthews, and with your indulgence, I?d like to talk about a friend of mine. I own a small company in San Antonio and I?m quite proud to announce the hiring of a good friend, Johnny Yocham, CPO. I?d like Texas to know a little about the man, the quiet hero and exceptional contributor to the profession.

Johnny started out in this field during the Viet-Nam war. He was a soldier and trained in San Antonio. He was working at a Japan Evac hospital during the war. He spent his last few years of active duty here in San Antonio and retired from the Army in 1978, but he was far from done. He was a CPO and was tapped to create an ABC accredited long course in orthotics for our soldier orthotists. He did. Johnny and Colonel Lewis from the US Army Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston worked with ABC to achieve an enviable feat. I was one of the first beneficiaries of his effort. One of many. I have many friends that benefitted from his efforts that are now longtime ABC certifees. Who knows the actual count, but he is responsible for many.

Johnny has worked for many local companies and is well respected here. Never a flamboyant man, as some might say I am, he has quietly achieved amazing things. OK, this is a little gushing, but he really is an inspiration to me.

Johnny is pushing 70 now and is still a machine. That was his nickname for all the years I worked with him at Hanger in San Antonio. I?ve never seen a more productive prosthetist. He was "The Machine". He ran 3 prosthetic techs by himself and kept them busy. He could literally cast for a definative and dynamically align in the afternoon and deliver before lunch the next day, and did several times. His patients love him and missed him when he went to work at the VA here. I think taking care of soldiers and veterans is his first love. He is retiring from civil service in a couple weeks and will be taking it easy with me for as long as he wants to hang out. I am sooo looking forward to it! lol

It?s nice to acknowledge greatness in our profession pre-mortem. This man is no where near done yet.