John L. Hartman dies of injuries from I.E.D.

Staff Sgt. John L. Hartman Jr. was a hard worker who preferred the outdoors and was never known to turn down a fishing trip.

"We'd always go fishing and have a good time," said his father, John L. Hartman Sr. "He really loved to fish."

Hartman, a longtime Bradenton resident, died Thursday in Baghdad, Iraq, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations. He was on his third tour in Baghdad, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga.

Hartman, 39, was described as fearless and someone who would do anything for anyone.

Family and friends say the 1986 Manatee High School graduate proved that after his second tour.

Slated to stay in the states, Hartman offered to take the spot of a man in his platoon after his wife had a baby. The man he replaced was scheduled to go to Iraq, so that's what Hartman did.

"He was his own man who made up his own mind," Hartman Sr., a former Marine, said of his late son.

Rich Hickey, Hartman's best friend of more than 20 years, first met the soldier in October of 1985.

The two immediately "meshed" and were roommates for four years throughout basic and advanced training, as well as permanent party in Fort Campbell, Ky. In the end, they were more like brothers, Hickey said.

"He was good at taking care of his buddies," Hickey said. "He was the kind of person who wouldn't bail you out of jail, he'd be there with you."

The two came close to facing jail one rowdy night in Kentucky.

"We were hauled in for learning how to repel from an aerosol tower at midnight, while inebriated, hanging upside down 40 feet from the ground," Hickey said.

After four years, Hickey decided to rejoin the civilian life, a life Hartman didn't "fit in with," he said, but the two never lost track of one another.

"We'd go long periods of time without talking to one another, but when we'd get together it'd seem like we never missed a beat. I trusted him with everything, my life. I'd give anything for him and he'd do the same, no question."

Hartman's younger brother, Jared, looked up to him and thought of him as a good influence.

When his family got word of his death Thursday, the feeling of shock was immediate.

"I was upset," he said. "It's one of those things. I knew it could happen but never thought it would."

The family was a tight-knit one, as each member was always there for the others.

"Our family structure was one of those where we could mess with each other, but no one else could," Jared Hartman said.

Hickey shared his feelings when he was notified.

"You know it's possible, but you never want to hear those words," he said. "It's like losing your soul."

Hickey last talked to Hartman by phone Nov. 25, five days before he died. He had gotten a cell phone and was able to call from Iraq.

"Things had been so intense lately - he was just blowing off steam," Hickey said. "We'd laugh at the nasty stuff."

In a recent letter to Hickey, Hartman described the increasingly dangerous amount of violence in Iraq, and asked that he not tell his mother, Charlene, who lives in Sarasota.

"He knew the chances. He rolled the dice," Hickey said. "But he died doing what he was good at - taking care of his buddies."

Members of Hartman's 12-man unit were mourning his death, according to a girlfriend of one of the other soldiers.

"He said they're all hurt and upset about the loss and feel that they'll probably never get over it," said Natalie Byers.

Hartman's stepsister Leela Morris, who is in the Marines, will be escorting his body, which is currently in Dover, Del., to Sarasota within the next couple weeks.

Hartman, who leaves behind two children, will be cremated, with his ashes scattered into Tampa Bay.

Hartman is the fifth Bradenton resident killed in Iraq since the war began.

From the Herald