Donnie Hartman
The Good Die Young.
Cyberspace is a strange
world filled with unexpected and unknown thrills, excitement and, in
many cases, disappointments.
I'm not a great surfer,
either on the board, on the skate or on the net. I usually have a
good idea of what I'm looking for and how to find it. Occasionally
Google will throw up something unexpected, but I seldom flit about
from site to site in classic surfing style.
I like to keep in touch
with the home folks in Independence, Missouri by checking in on the
Independence Examiner web site every so often. It's usually a five
minute visit and a quick trawl through whatever seems interesting.
So, I was snooping
about the other day and I saw one of their internet polls – you
know the type – vote for your favourite local personality, singer,
sports person. The Examiner were trying to find the most famous/best
sports person ever from their readership. There were some
nominations for professional baseball, football and other
high-profile sports.
What caught my eye was
the “blog” section at the bottom which asked readers to submit
nominations. Someone had nominated Donald Hartman, who played
basketball for Truman High School in the 1960's. I thought it odd at
first that an “unknown” high school basketball player from the
distant past would merit a mention in the most exalted company the
Examiner readers could think of.
Then I remembered. I
saw Donnie Hartman play basketball. I didn't know him personally,
but we were only one year apart at school. He played basketball for
Truman H.S. the year after the reorganisation of the Independence
schools. He was,simply, one the best high school basketball players
I ever saw.
Another light went on
upstairs. I remembered that someone told me he was killed in
Vietnam. Sure enough, if you Google “Donnie Hartman Vietnam “you
will get:
http://www.virtualwall.org/dh/HartmanDO01a.htm
There is a very nice
tribute there from a pal who knew him in the Army. It's what you'd
expect. What struck me was the unexpected.
He was in the 101st
Airborne, and he was AUS. What that means is he was drafted. AUS
stands for Army of the United States. If he was a volunteer, he
would be RA (Regular Army) and not AUS. So, how did he get into the
Airborne, which I believe was all volunteer? And, how did he get in
the Army so soon? He was only 21. A note from his friend on his
memorial page alludes to his basketball ability and tells that he
went to college. Where? Why did he drop out? How did he end up in
the Airborne? Who was his pal, Cliff? Who else remembers Donnie as
an outstanding basketball player? Who, after all this time,
remembered his talent so well as to nominate him as the best all-time
Independence Examiner sports person? Does he still have family in
Independence?
More questions that
answers.
I remember Donnie
Hartman. I wish I had known him better. Google can make you sad,
though it is unintentional.