September 5, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, in Vietnam, the armored personnel carrier Jon Hovde was driving hit an anti-tank mine. The 20-year-old soldier made three promises to God if He would let him live. Linda from Jon’s hometown of Fertile, MN, is here to tell the story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. For the past
five years, Readers Digest has been searching all across America
for places that have great stories about nice people. They
call these towns the nicest places in America. We partnered
with Readers Digest to bring their storytellers to our listeners,
and today we bring one such story, and it comes
(00:33):
from a small town in Minnesota called of all things Fertile,
and a native there tells us why her small town
is one of the nicest places in America.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Hi, my name is Linda, and here is why I
think Fertile is one of the nicest places in the
United States. We live in a small community in northwest Minnesota,
population approsently eight hundred people. Fertile has no traffic lights.
Everybody knows your name, and we believe our town has
(01:07):
the biggest heart. We have many residents in Fertile that
we could talk about that one man, John Hubdey, touched
all our lives in some way or another. John was
born in nineteen forty seven, spending all his childhood in Fertile.
He graduated from Ferdile High School in nineteen sixty five.
After graduation, John moved to California, and that is where
(01:30):
he met his future wife, Darlene, and they would go
on to be married happily for forty nine years. In
nineteen sixty seven, at the age of nineteen, John ended
the army and was sent to Vietnam. He did not
need to go because he was his mother's only son,
but he wanted to fight for God and country. He
(01:51):
was driving a personal carrier and was alone inside the
driver's compartment. His carrier had a mine and the explosion
ripped through the three point five inch steel bottom of
the carrier. John did not know at that time that
his left leg had been blown off above the knee
and his left arm just below the shoulder. While on
(02:11):
an eyes blanket, Johnny made three vows to God if
his life would be spared. Those three promises were to
have the fastest car in Pope County, not to be
dependent on the government, and to make a difference in
the lives of others. He fulfilled all three of those promises.
John and Darlene have two children and five grandchildren and
(02:35):
so enjoyed spending time with their family and friends together.
John led a life of dedication through his service on
the local school board on the board of his church,
a member of the American Legion the VFW, the dav
on the board for the local Fare, and was also
a president of the Minnesota State School Board. He was
(02:59):
also writing Left for Dead with his many stays in
the hospital. Over the years, many caregivers and nurses were
given a signed copy of his book. He spoke to
many groups large and small, but the speeches closest to
his heart were those he made to school children from
kindergarten to seniors. You couldn't call them speeches, as he
(03:20):
spoke from the heart and his message to everyone was
to make a difference. Over the years, John has had
many surgeries, but the summer of twenty eighteen was especially
hard for the Hovedy family. Many trips to the hospital,
to the Mayo Clinic, and then the terrible news of
the hated word cancer. News of John's diagnosis of cancer
(03:44):
and that he would be coming home on hospice spread
through town and our community pretty fast. Now the question arose,
what can we do as a community to show our support,
love and respect for John and his family. A parade
was suggested and that it was a go with the
family's blessing. So dates and times changed many times. We
(04:09):
were in contact with the family so we could let
the community know the details, but still trying to keep
it a secret from John. We received word that he
would be coming home on October twenty third, but that
time had changed many times throughout the afternoon. Fertile had
(04:30):
a home football game that night, and the football team
dedicated their game to Johnny, bringing home a big win
fifty to zero. Over arrival. The weather was cold, there
was a strong wind, and as the time of their
arrival pushed now into the evening, we were afraid that
everyone after the game would go home to warm up,
(04:52):
not Fertile residents. Finally, we had a different time and
we put the word out on social media that john
was just south of the Fertile. It was an amazing
sight to see and to be a part of. Cars
lined up on both sides of the highway with patriotic
music playing, our church on Main Street ringing their church bells,
(05:15):
and American flags flying high on the route. Residents, family, neighbors,
and friends, plus perfect strangers stood outside in the cold
to welcome Johnny home, all waving the American flag, many
holding signs, and many with tears. To be experiencing such
a moving experience. John and his family were welcome home
(05:37):
from the Mayo clinic with a fleet of fire trucks
and sheriff vehicles from Fertile and the surrounding towns and
our EMS truck, all with flashing lights and sirens going.
This fleet led the family from about ten miles out
of Fertile all the way to their home north of Fertile.
Our city mayor proclaimed October twenty three as John Hubdi Day. Sadly,
(06:04):
John passed away on November two, twenty eighteen, to be
missed by his family and friends and his community. At
his funeral, there was standing room only with the Native
American honor guard in attention inside the church and outside
at the graveside in the cold. One thing that most
(06:27):
of us amired about Johnny is that he never acted
like he had a disability. He loved to hunt, fished,
and golfed. Because of COVID concerns, our seniors did not
get to participate in a normal graduation service. So again
Fertile led the way and made beautiful banners of each
(06:47):
of our Fertile Beltramis seniors that were placed on their
light pols in town. On graduation day, the community came
together with the seniors standing beneath their banners in the
community driving by to congratulate each of them. Fertile also
hosts every year the biggest county fair in a tri
(07:08):
state area. All of these that I have mentioned were
made possible because of all the volunteers in our area
who over the years have donated thousands of hours of time,
their big farming machinery, manual labor and fuel cause to
make it possible. No dream is too big. As you
(07:29):
can tell, I'm very proud of our community. I'm very
happy to tell everyone that I am from Fertile to
Flower City. If you are in the area, please stop in.
There's always coffee to be served, and if you are lucky,
you will get an Updell donut as well.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Thank you and great job is always by Greg Hangler
on the production and a special thanks to Linda for
sharing her story and the story of her town, which
she believes is the nicest place in America. We want
to hear your stories about your town and why you
think it qualifies for such distinction, and we also thank
(08:07):
readers Digests for sharing this great story with us about
a downright nice place. And as our listeners know, this
story isn't an exception to the rule. People across this
country are doing nice and good things for each other
each and every day. If you have stories like these,
we want to hear them. Share them at our American
Stories dot com and go to the your stories tab.
(08:28):
And if you want more stories from readers digests Nicest
Places in America series, go to rd dot com forward
slash Nicest and by the way, put a story about
one of the products of this small town in northwest Minnesota.
And by the way, it's people, any townspeople or the
product in the end. And I keep thinking about John Hofdy,
(08:50):
who volunteered the go off and fight in Vietnam, and
he lost a leg above the knee and a right arm.
And what did he do? He made promises to God
to have the fastest car in Polk County, to not
be dependent on the government, and to be of service
to others. And he lived all three of those promises
(09:11):
to God. Out the story of fertile Minnesota here on
our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. For the past
five years, Readers Digest has been searching all across America
for places that have great stories about nice people. They
call these towns the nicest places in America. We partnered
with Readers Digest to bring their storytellers to our listeners,
and today we bring one such story, and it comes
(00:33):
from a small town in Minnesota called of all things Fertile,
and a native there tells us why her small town
is one of the nicest places in America.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Hi, my name is Linda, and here is why I
think Fertile is one of the nicest places in the
United States. We live in a small community in northwest Minnesota,
population approsently eight hundred people. Fertile has no traffic lights.
Everybody knows your name, and we believe our town has
(01:07):
the biggest heart. We have many residents in Fertile that
we could talk about that one man, John Hubdey, touched
all our lives in some way or another. John was
born in nineteen forty seven, spending all his childhood in Fertile.
He graduated from Ferdile High School in nineteen sixty five.
After graduation, John moved to California, and that is where
(01:30):
he met his future wife, Darlene, and they would go
on to be married happily for forty nine years. In
nineteen sixty seven, at the age of nineteen, John ended
the army and was sent to Vietnam. He did not
need to go because he was his mother's only son,
but he wanted to fight for God and country. He
(01:51):
was driving a personal carrier and was alone inside the
driver's compartment. His carrier had a mine and the explosion
ripped through the three point five inch steel bottom of
the carrier. John did not know at that time that
his left leg had been blown off above the knee
and his left arm just below the shoulder. While on
(02:11):
an eyes blanket, Johnny made three vows to God if
his life would be spared. Those three promises were to
have the fastest car in Pope County, not to be
dependent on the government, and to make a difference in
the lives of others. He fulfilled all three of those promises.
John and Darlene have two children and five grandchildren and
(02:35):
so enjoyed spending time with their family and friends together.
John led a life of dedication through his service on
the local school board on the board of his church,
a member of the American Legion the VFW, the dav
on the board for the local Fare, and was also
a president of the Minnesota State School Board. He was
(02:59):
also writing Left for Dead with his many stays in
the hospital. Over the years, many caregivers and nurses were
given a signed copy of his book. He spoke to
many groups large and small, but the speeches closest to
his heart were those he made to school children from
kindergarten to seniors. You couldn't call them speeches, as he
(03:20):
spoke from the heart and his message to everyone was
to make a difference. Over the years, John has had
many surgeries, but the summer of twenty eighteen was especially
hard for the Hovedy family. Many trips to the hospital,
to the Mayo Clinic, and then the terrible news of
the hated word cancer. News of John's diagnosis of cancer
(03:44):
and that he would be coming home on hospice spread
through town and our community pretty fast. Now the question arose,
what can we do as a community to show our support,
love and respect for John and his family. A parade
was suggested and that it was a go with the
family's blessing. So dates and times changed many times. We
(04:09):
were in contact with the family so we could let
the community know the details, but still trying to keep
it a secret from John. We received word that he
would be coming home on October twenty third, but that
time had changed many times throughout the afternoon. Fertile had
(04:30):
a home football game that night, and the football team
dedicated their game to Johnny, bringing home a big win
fifty to zero. Over arrival. The weather was cold, there
was a strong wind, and as the time of their
arrival pushed now into the evening, we were afraid that
everyone after the game would go home to warm up,
(04:52):
not Fertile residents. Finally, we had a different time and
we put the word out on social media that john
was just south of the Fertile. It was an amazing
sight to see and to be a part of. Cars
lined up on both sides of the highway with patriotic
music playing, our church on Main Street ringing their church bells,
(05:15):
and American flags flying high on the route. Residents, family, neighbors,
and friends, plus perfect strangers stood outside in the cold
to welcome Johnny home, all waving the American flag, many
holding signs, and many with tears. To be experiencing such
a moving experience. John and his family were welcome home
(05:37):
from the Mayo clinic with a fleet of fire trucks
and sheriff vehicles from Fertile and the surrounding towns and
our EMS truck, all with flashing lights and sirens going.
This fleet led the family from about ten miles out
of Fertile all the way to their home north of Fertile.
Our city mayor proclaimed October twenty three as John Hubdi Day. Sadly,
(06:04):
John passed away on November two, twenty eighteen, to be
missed by his family and friends and his community. At
his funeral, there was standing room only with the Native
American honor guard in attention inside the church and outside
at the graveside in the cold. One thing that most
(06:27):
of us amired about Johnny is that he never acted
like he had a disability. He loved to hunt, fished,
and golfed. Because of COVID concerns, our seniors did not
get to participate in a normal graduation service. So again
Fertile led the way and made beautiful banners of each
(06:47):
of our Fertile Beltramis seniors that were placed on their
light pols in town. On graduation day, the community came
together with the seniors standing beneath their banners in the
community driving by to congratulate each of them. Fertile also
hosts every year the biggest county fair in a tri
(07:08):
state area. All of these that I have mentioned were
made possible because of all the volunteers in our area
who over the years have donated thousands of hours of time,
their big farming machinery, manual labor and fuel cause to
make it possible. No dream is too big. As you
(07:29):
can tell, I'm very proud of our community. I'm very
happy to tell everyone that I am from Fertile to
Flower City. If you are in the area, please stop in.
There's always coffee to be served, and if you are lucky,
you will get an Updell donut as well.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Thank you and great job is always by Greg Hangler
on the production and a special thanks to Linda for
sharing her story and the story of her town, which
she believes is the nicest place in America. We want
to hear your stories about your town and why you
think it qualifies for such distinction, and we also thank
(08:07):
readers Digests for sharing this great story with us about
a downright nice place. And as our listeners know, this
story isn't an exception to the rule. People across this
country are doing nice and good things for each other
each and every day. If you have stories like these,
we want to hear them. Share them at our American
Stories dot com and go to the your stories tab.
(08:28):
And if you want more stories from readers digests Nicest
Places in America series, go to rd dot com forward
slash Nicest and by the way, put a story about
one of the products of this small town in northwest Minnesota.
And by the way, it's people, any townspeople or the
product in the end. And I keep thinking about John Hofdy,
(08:50):
who volunteered the go off and fight in Vietnam, and
he lost a leg above the knee and a right arm.
And what did he do? He made promises to God
to have the fastest car in Polk County, to not
be dependent on the government, and to be of service
to others. And he lived all three of those promises
(09:11):
to God. Out the story of fertile Minnesota here on
our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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