An Early Group’s Story -- as told by Bob Myers
When I moved to Moca where I was involved in my "windmill" project at
Rincón de los Jimenez, I moved into the house vacated by Harvey Hartley who was rooming with John Ahearn from DR V. Harvey returned to the DR after completing service and before heading to Costa Rica, he showed up in Moca for some reason which I forget.
It was then he gave me a pair of his Levis, from the original 2 pair that you may recall Levis gave to each PC volunteer in the early years (don't know if that still happens). When he was killed I went to S. Domingo to identify the body, and vowed on my way back I would keep that pair of Levis and one day track down his family and give them to him.
Well, after 45 years those Levis moved with me to California, then Connecticut, then Houston, back to California, then to Paris, and finally to Colorado. I hadn't gotten around to finding his family and suspecting that I may never get around to actually tracking them, I found on the Internet a Harvey Hartley award from the high school he attended.
Through the high school I was given the contacts for his younger sister, Pearl, to whom I told my story. Some others have been in touch with Harvey's family over the years so you may be aware that Pearl and two of her daughters also served in the PC, although one came home early. Further, that there was a huge celebration (maybe the 40th anniversary?) at the co-op in Moca to which the Hartley family was invited and to which a bunch of them attended. Apparently the co-op remains a still growing entity, it now has a restaurant and I believe another business as well. There is, I believe, a plaque dedicated to Harvey and Bob as part of the celebration.
Today, Pearl is the custodian of Harvey's original pair of Levis with battery acid holes and all. So, after 45 years that loop is now closed. Memories of the DR still are endearing, and remain ever vivid. |