Sergeant Jennifer Marie Hartman was born May 21st, 1985 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Tamaqua Area High School, where she ran on the track team in 2003. Raised as a tomboy because her father feared he’d never have a son, she often went tubing, fishing, jet skiing, four-wheeling on ATVs, and knee boarding.
Sergeant Hartman was tough and rejected notions of what it meant to be a woman. Her uncle shared that he once saw her carry a 100-pound bag of sand.
Sergeant Hartman joined the Army in July 2003, hoping to eventually go to school to enter the medical field. She was deployed to Iraq in December 2005 and assigned to the 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, attached to 1-22 Infantry as a food service specialist.
On September 14th, 2006, Sergeant Hartman was killed when a truck-borne improvised explosive device detonated near her barracks. Sergeant Aaron A. Smith and Corporal Marcus A. Cain were also killed in the explosion. Hartman was survived by her parents, her brother and sister, her maternal grandmother and paternal grandparents, her maternal great-grandparents, three uncles, and two aunts.
Her awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Combat Action Badge.
More than strong and steadfast in her beliefs, Sergeant Hartman was caring and vivacious. Her father said, “She wanted everybody to have a good life. She could talk to you and free you up and get you to smile. She had so much life in her you can’t imagine.” She once wrote, “It’s not about what happened in the past. It’s not about what might happen in the future. It’s about the ride, for Christ’s sake.”
Sergeant Jennifer Marie Hartman was 21. She is buried at Holy Saviour Cemetery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Sources:
https://www.republicanherald.com/2009/09/13/riders-deliver-flag-to-family-of-fallen-soldier/
https://www.iraqwarheroes.org/hartmanj.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15849480/jennifer_marie-hartman
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/army-sgt-jennifer-m-hartman/2171735
https://1-22infantry.org/kia/hartmanpers.htm
https://www.hartmanfuneralhomeinc.com/obituary/SgtJennifer-Hartman
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