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Jewish World Review
March 11, 2005
/ 30 Adar I, 5765
An American Original
By
Tom Purcell
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Jimmy Hartner was shipped off to Viet Nam when he was 21.
He enlisted in the Army in 1968, and managed to get into an area where he could make use of his considerable skills — a near genius ability to design, build and repair anything mechanical or electronic.
His primary job was to keep electronic devices in excellent working order, but the Army also certified him as an expert marksman. One of his duties was to protect ammunition dumps at night, and such duty resulted in frequent fire fights with the Viet Cong. Jimmy was put in the position of kill or be killed, and did what he had to do to survive.
He eventually fell in love. After a year and a half in Viet Nam, he was transferred to Germany. He met a young pretty girl named Cecelia and the two married. They had a son named Ricky (they'd later have a daughter, Chastine, and four grandchildren). When his three-year tour was up, he brought his young family home to Pittsburgh.
Many men were forever changed after the things they'd witnessed in Viet Nam, but Jimmy never was. When he returned he dove right into his new life. He enrolled in a one-year course in a technical college, graduated tops in his class and took a job with a big retail firm.
He bought an old farmhouse, a mess of a place, and began rebuilding. That's how Jimmy was — where others saw problems, he saw the end result. He saw what he could create, and got to work right away tirelessly creating it.
His co-workers said he was the go-to guy — able to resolve problems that left everyone else stumped. When presented with an impossible challenge, he'd zone out — he'd visualize the problem in his mind — and, every time, the solution would come.
His playfulness was legendary. I must have met 30 of his co-workers last week and every one of them had a "Jimmy" story. Every day, they said, he came in with a smile on his face and mischief in his eyes.
One day he covered a telephone receiver with a thick coat of grease. He went to the other side of the office and then phoned it. He expected one of his friends to pick up, but the department manager picked it up instead. While the manager chased Jimmy around the office, the entire department was doubled over in laughter.
Jimmy was serious about many things, though. He followed current events closely — had an opinion for most any subject under the sun. He'd chew your ear off on taxes, America's porous borders, and the war in Iraq. He had strong feelings for what was right or wrong and what needed to be done.
I never really thought about it until he died last week, but he was a perfect reflection of the heart of America. Only a country like ours can give life to a being that is at once hard working, mischievous, playful, concerned and won't hesitate for a moment to give you a piece of his mind.
Jimmy not only believed that one man could make a difference, he believed a man should exhaust himself trying to. He believed he had the power to change, improve and repair the world — just as he had with cars, houses and thousands of gadgets over the years.
America thrives because we have millions of fellows just like him — the first to volunteer at his church, the one who stops to help out a stranger stranded on the side of the road, the one who spends his free time assisting friends and family, never asking much in return.
He was my Uncle Jimmy and he died unexpectedly at the young age of 57 last week. He was a real piece of work — an American original — and my family has suffered a tremendous loss.
But then so has America.
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© 2005, Tom Purcell
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