Hands on Experience

He quickly rose to the rank of sergeant. Fire fights with insurgents were common, but one battle stood out. Once he was manning an ammo dump when Vietcong soldiers began firing mor tar shots. Deadly projectiles hailed from the sky.

Barnett took cover, but it didn’t matter if the mortars struck him directly or not. If they hit an ammunition cache, everyone would have been blown to pieces, he said. A lot of prayers were an swered that night, he added.

After three years of service Barnett was offered more money and a higher rank if he would agree to re-enlist. He decided he didn’t want to return. When he got off the plane in Little Rock on his return trip home he patted the ground, he said.

“It was a scary situation. Let me tell you this. It was a turnaround event for me,” he said. “I learned a lot. I learned that life over here is fabulous com pared to life in other countries.”

When his service ended, Barnett needed to find a job. He started doing carpentry work with his brother. That went well for a while, but then the economy took a turn for the worse and he had to find a new job.

He worked for a boat company for 18 years, and then worked for 15 years at Burlington Industries. When that plant closed, he took a job with Com mercial Bank and Trust Company in Monticello.

For the last 21 years he’s worked as their head of maintenance. His wife, Kathie, worked for the bank for more than 30 years. She passed away in June of 2021.

Barnett considers himself a “jack of all trades” that works on any maintenance-related issue at the bank. His military experience and training have provided him valuable tools in his civilian jobs.

“Well, I try to perform my job as best as I can. I attained rank in the Army very quickly. I try to do my job the best that I can. Don’t ever slack. It will never pan out,” he said.

When he was younger, Barnett enjoyed deer hunting but he rarely does that anymore. He enjoys watching his grandchildren play sports as did his wife before she died.

He has several carpentry and mechanical projects that he works on around his house. He has a 1950 Ford model tractor he likes to “piddle with.”

“I like to use my hands. I like to do all kinds of work. I like carpentry work,” he added.