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Williamsport native retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Barry Hartman, has been named as recipient of the 2026 Veteran of the Year by The Friends of the New York State Military Museum and the Uncle Sam Chapter of the Association of the United States Army, according to a press release from The Friends of the New York State Military Museum.
Hartman will be presented the award by Mark O'Rourke, president of the Friends group, and Rick Wark, president of the Uncle Sam Chapter, during a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, located in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The guest speaker for the event, which is free and open to the public, will be Major General Raymond F. Shields Jr., Adjutant General for New York State and commander of the New York Army National Guard, will be the guest speaker.
"I guess you can say I took the Yogi Berra philosophy of life: "when you come to the fork in the road, take it," Hartman told the Sun-Gazette.
"When I graduated from high school in 1957, there weren't any jobs around, and I really didn't know what I was going to do with myself. The draft was breathing down my neck, and a lot of places wouldn't hire me because I had not been drafted, so I decided to just go into the Army, never intending to make it a career," he explained.
But make a career of it, he would, as Hartman would enlist in the Army Security Agency, spend a year at the Army Language School in Monterey, Calif., and become qualified as a Czech interpreter.
Hartman was subsequently stationed in the Fulda Gap area of West Germany, where he commanded tank and armored cavalry units during two tours from 1964-66, according to the press release.
"We patrolled 127 kilometers of the east-west German border out of Fulda Gap in Germany, which was the traditional invasion route," he explained.
"It was kind of amazing. The Germans there were very supportive of us, of the West, and of our mission along the border," Hartman said.
"I got to know a number of the more influential Germans in that area, and it was interesting," he added.
Hartman returned to his former base, Observation Post Alpha, in 2000 when two memorials were inaugurated.
"They left the buildings and everything there. In fact, if you go to the command center; it still looks like the command center. The mess hall is now a food facility, and several of the barracks are now displays of things from the Cold War. They left 250 meters of the fence that was down about 100 meters to the southeast of us as part of the German national park, so you can see what it was like during that period of time," he said.
While stationed in Germany, Hartman was encouraged to take entry exams to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
"I had a commander call me in the office one day and say 'what have you got to lose? Take the exam. If you don't make it, continue on in the army as a check interpreter. If you do pass it, well, you have a shot of getting an education.' So I did," Hartman explained.
"Everybody looks at it for the military, but it's a very good educational institution," he said.
Hartman received a bachelor of science in general engineering, and went on to secure a master's in international relations from Indiana University with a minor in organizational therapy, after which he served a second tour in Vietnam.
During his first tour, from 1967-68, Hartman served with the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, as a troop commander and air operations officer in the Central Highlands, and as an operations officer and tactical operations center director for the First Regional Assistance Command in Hue and Danang during his second tour from 1972 to 1973, the press release said.
For his service, Hartman received several military decorations, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with "V" device, Meritorious Service Medal, multiple Air Medal awards, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, according to the release.
Following his first tour in Vietnam, Hartman also attended the Navy's Command General Staff College in Newport, Rhode Island.
"I have friends from all over the world. The thing about it was, it's the people that you work with. I worked for a lot of good bosses that inspired me and that worked well with me and that I learned from. And I worked with a lot of good people. We were all part of a team. It felt like I was doing something worthwhile with my life," Hartman said.
Still, his greatest accomplishment can be found right at home, he said.
"The best thing that ever happened to me was on July 4, 1964 when I married Bridget Wilson from Rye, N.Y., and she's still with me here, 62 and a half years later," he said.
"When I came back from Vietnam the first time, I had a wife at home, a three-year-old and an eight month old son I hadn't seen because he was born while I was over there," Hartman said.
"I told my wife, when I asked her to marry me, that I couldn't promise her a lot of things, but one thing I could promise her is it wouldn't be dull," he recounted.
After 31 years in the U.S. Army came to a close in 1992, Hartman spent another 14 with the New York Guard.
During that time, Hartman served as commander of the 10th Brigade, deputy commander for operations, and commander, Army Division.
In 1995, Hartman was promoted to brigadier general, and was deputy commander of the New York Guard when he retired in 2006, according to the press release.
"That's 49 years in uniform, counting West Point," he said.
"I'm retired now, but it took me a couple times to really get it right," Hartman said with a laugh.
"I worked for Amsterdam Printing while I was as an imports manager in the Guard, and then I ran my own consulting business for a while till I finally retired," he said.
Last year, Hartman received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the Williamsport Area School District Educational Foundation in recognition of his decorated military career and lifelong commitment to public service.
For the past 14 years, Hartman has been running the program from which he will receive his upcoming award.
"I've been running it for the Association of the U.S. Army, in the Friends of New York State Military Museum. It's for veterans in this area. We honor a veteran once a year, give them plaques and they get a write-up and get honored for one afternoon, as part of the veterans salute during Veterans Day," he explained.
"This spring, the president of the Association of U.S. Army in our area, and the president of the Friends of the Airset ordered me to not run it this time because they had selected me," Harman said, adding that although he knew in May, he was "sworn to secrecy."
Having been so deeply involved, Hartman was initially resistant to step away.
"It was a command from a retired command sergeant major, and he said, 'I'm the Sergeant Major. You listen to me, sir,' and I said, 'yes,'" he said. "I feel very honored because it's been a bag of mine for the past number of years," Hartman said.
"I'm also president of West Point Society, so I do a lot with the West Point alumni," he added.
"I'm not the type to sit in a rocking chair on the porch. The difference is, it's things I feel good about doing, and things that make you really feel good about yourself and about others. That's what it's all about. That's what life's about," Hartman said.
"Its been quite an adventure," he said.