Gunnar,The Mechanic

My Gunnar Child....the kid we all called McGyver...give him a roll of duct tape(at 3 years of age) and he'd "fix" for hours! Another of Gunnar's favorite childhood passtimes, was playing in the sandbox...and,how does a child get all of those tonka trucks hooked together??with the twist ties that are enclosed in garbage bags!! A couple of years ago, I overheard Gunnar say "Hey,Drew, go get some twist ties & I'll show you how to hook those John Deere tractors together!!" A few days later I heard Gunnar say "Drew! Get over here, I'm going to teach you how to fix the tire on your bike..you know when I get in the Army, I won't be here, to do it for you". I wish,now, that I would have had a camcorder ready & taped the entire proceedure(mostly for the conversation ).

Recently, we were honored, with a visit from JeffT., one of the "bandits". Jeff said"Nobody could make a greasegun work, like Becker! Gunnar would twirl the greasegun, in the air, & go to work."


"The vehicle had a problem with one of the engine fan belts. It kept falling off the pulleys. PFC Becker did all he could to fix it and we did complete our mission and actually made it back to FOB Scunion under our own power. What I remember most is I said Becker, do not worry about it, we got 5 hummers here. We will just hook it up and tow it in. PFC Becker said, “1SG I got you out here in my hummer and I will take you back in my hummer.” And with that he went to work and got everything back on and by the time the rest of the platoon came back from the mission, the hummer was fixed well enough to get us back. That is the kind of soldier Gunnar was. Always willing to go the extra mile and do all he could to make something work......
1SG Rodney McClinton

Gunnar learned the mechanical skills, working on farm equipment, with Roger, Shane, and Lee...his first car was a $400 chevy, he drove to school and to work, and "fixed" on, frequently..and of which Doug still says "I wonder how many of my missing tools were in that car, when it went thru the crusher?'' I've overheard the comment (many times) Gunnar could fix anything.

As we remodel our home, there have been several times someone has said "WHO fixed this, for you???"
"GUNNAR"
"That explains the duct tape"
the makeshift ladder going up into the loft of the barn will remain in the northeast corner, forever...as a quiet reminder, that upstairs was Gunnar's favorite place, to hide...
and just yesterday, walking around the edge of our property, i found a wad of'' sparkler'' rods, held together with black electrical tape...the remains of another sparkler bomb...