C. Ivan Stoltzfus kicked off Zerbe Retirement Community’s Speaker Series in Narvon on May 23.
Founder of Across America for Wounded Heroes, a 501c 3 organization that raises funds for veterans and first responders, Stoltzfus was chosen by the residents to speak about his mission.
More than 100 people from miles around came to hear him and to see Johnabilt, the first tractor to cross the USA twice. A John Deere vintage 1949 Model A tractor with a Peterbilt Cab was created locally by Ivan and the Waterloo Boys of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Traveling 12,000 miles of highways, county roads, and snowy mountain passes in the Rocky Mountains at 14 miles an hour, the rig weighs 6 tons including the tractor and camper.
Ivan spied a woman seated in the front, “This is Virginia Bell, my second mother, even though I am as old as her. In 2014, Virginia and her husband, friends from Morgantown’s Grace and Truth Fellowship Church, traveled to New Jersey to see Johnabilt dip his wheels into the Atlantic Ocean just as the clouds parted and the sun came out.”
Beside her sat Paul and Christine Kline from Birdsboro. Paul shared tractor rivalry, “Tractor friends don’t let friends drive green tractors!”
Ivan laughed and invited everyone along for his 2016 trip, “Freedom isn’t free! I believe America is one big family. Families help each other,”
The crowd was in awe of the photos of the beauty and goodness of America. Photos flashed on the screen: campgrounds, a lonely chapel, rows of American flags, antelope and big horn sheep scared out by Johnabilt’s ‘put put’, and Ivan arrested in hand cuffs on a Florida highway until friends paid the $100 ransom to set him free. The joke was on him.
On his 70th birthday, friends traveled thousands of miles to see him in the woods. Veterans and folks stopped him along the way, some filling up his gas tank or inviting him to lunch at a roadside diner just to talk.
On the journey were long patches of wilderness where cactus, bramble bush and wild animals were his only companions. From the Rockies to the plains Ivan heard stories of the lost souls of wounded veterans. His First Aid Kit included prayer.
Newspaper reporters and Fox News chased him capturing the story of ‘this tractor man raising funds and seeking out wounded veterans, many with PTSD just to talk and pray with them’. Everyday 22 veterans commit suicide, Johnabilt travels for them.
Before leaving Pennsylvania, Jeremy Jackson, a wounded veteran, met up with Ivan near Pittsburgh to thank him for what he was doing for veterans. Pressing a medal into Ivan’s hand, he said, “Take this with you.”
Ivan looked down surprised to see a purple heart medal, “I can’t take that, Jeremy, you earned that. Thank you, but that’s yours.”
“Please take it on your journey. People need to know.”
And in that tent at Zerbe’s he showed Jeremy’s purple heart to all who wanted to see.
Photos of veterans, living and dead, given by grieving parents, or veterans themselves, also travel across America on the dashboard.
Across America for Wounded Heroes is partnering with Operation Second Chance, a 501c 3 national organization, and expanding its mission to a third trip across the USA in 2019.
Retired Marine Major Paul McCoy, a Zerbe resident, came with his wife Lynne, “I am grateful to him. He had an amazing journey. Now I consider him one of us.”
Appalachian Trail hiker, Soren West, last year’s speaker, came with his dog Theo, “I hiked 2,189.1 miles from Maine to Georgia, 5 million steps into the woods. I didn’t want to come out; it was an adjustment.” He felt an affinity with Ivan.
Doris Pisatti, a 16-year resident of Zerbes glowed, “What a wonderful gentleman, excellent. We have an annual 4th of July Parade with patriotic singing. Every month we have speakers and lunch, and all kinds of events, bus trips, shopping, just everything.”
Nancy and Edwin Petitdemange came from Oxford. Edwin said, “I am a John Deere Man, I saw him in the Spring of 2014 at Kennett Square.”
A young boy walked up to buy a hat, his grandmother Gloria Patry, a resident explained, “Nate came today as his homeschool field trip, this is wonderful. Nate is proud to wear the hat for the cause.”
A silent auction to raise money for the mission was supported by Martin’s Flooring, Just Moms, Tru Value of Blue Ball, Morgantown’s Market Place, Shady Maple, Mission BBQ, J. B. Zimmerman, The Rigg Darlington Group, 1st Resource Bank, Thrivent Financial, and the residents.
B. & L. Bensinger, local Morgantown military vehicles restoration and parts business, displayed Jeeps for the day. They tour the USA in antique military convoys, “History in Motion.”
For information on Across America for Wounded Heroes, call 484-256-0846 or visit www.helpamericanheroes.com.
