Photo By Sgt. Dakota Price | Sgt. Harry La Bar, a motor transport operator, assigned to the 846th Transportation...... read more read more
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- Inspiration comes in many forms. It can occur through something seen, like a beautiful landscape or through something felt like a life-changing experience; but history has shown it is often found in the wake of inspiring people.
One of those inspirational figures is Harry Ulferts. Ulferts was a military policeman in the Illinois Army National Guard when he was deployed to Afghanistan. When he came back to his home town of Dixon, Illinois he was celebrated as a war hero. But during his visit he was involved in a tragic motorcycle accident that ultimately claimed his life at the young age of 26. Remarkably, his funeral triggered a young mans’ desire to join the military and change his life.
Sgt. Harry La Bar, a motor transportation operator for the 846th Transportation Company, 812th Transportation Battalion, 518th Sustainment Brigade had known Ulferts since birth, as he was the son of La Bar’s godfather.
“There were 10,000 people who signed the guestbook at his funeral,” said La Bar. The small town of Dixon’s official population is only about 15,000. Among those attending were law enforcement officials from all over Illinois who came to pay their respects and help by directing traffic. There were even ceremonial bagpipes and a 21-Gun Salute.
“I felt like he had made an impact on the world,” said La Bar. “He had impacted all those lives.”
That night La Bar spoke to his wife Jinny about joining the military, something he had always had a desire to do, but had not made a priority. She told him to do what he felt was right. But at 35-years-old, with a good career, a wife and children, La Bar was not exactly the typical recruit.
But Ulferts example and the respect he received is what really compelled La Bar to enlist in the Army. “The example he set inspired me to do more, to be more,” said La Bar.
By Feb. 17, 2011, he had enlisted and less than a month later he stepped foot onto Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training. There he met a fellow Soldier whom he would ultimately befriend and who would be with him from boot camp to his current assignment.
Spc. Bryan Raynes, a motor transport operator, with the 846th Trans. Co., and La Bar have been together their entire military career: reception, basic training, advanced individual training to be motor transport operators, a deployment to Afghanistan, and now as active drilling reservists with their current unit.
“He’s very smart,” said Raynes. “He’s basically the poster child for the Reserves because he can bring his civilian job into the Reserves and apply it here too.” Not only is La Bar a truck driver for the Reserves, but he also has his commercial driver license and drives tractor-trailers for a civilian company.
“He helped me win a bet one time to see who could back their truck in the fastest, because he showed me how to jackknife properly,” said Spc. Lance Britt, another member of the 846th Transportation Company. The two men were roommates together while deployed in Afghanistan. Britt credits La Bar with training him on the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle and showing him how to fasten chains quickly and easily on his trailers.
The deployment the three men were on together lasted from June 20, 2013 to May 19, 2014. But then La Bar was a specialist, now he is a sergeant, the “backbone of the Army.” As a noncommissioned officer and as an inheritor of Ulferts example, La Bar now serves as an example to those in his charge.
“I’d follow him because he knows what he’s doing,” said Raynes. “If there were more NCO’s with his work ethic and knowledge in the Army, it would be a better Army.”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2015 15:54 |
| Story ID: | 165234 |
| Location: | LYNCHBURG, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 205 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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