by Dennis Dalman
A truck driver for Brenny Specialized Inc. in St. Joseph was recently honored with a “Highway Angel” award from the Truckload Carriers Association.
Jesse Harlander, who lives in Holdingford, drives long-haul routes.
The “Angel” award is presented to truckers who show courtesy, kindness and courage doing their jobs.
On April 11, 2023, Harlander was parked next to a cemetery in Indianapolis, Ind., where he was waiting overnight to receive a load of granite he was to deliver. At about 8:30 p.m., a boy knocked on his truck door. Harlander asked if the boy needed help.
“He said yeah – help me – get me out of here!” Harlander recalled him saying in panic.
Harlander called 911 and waited for the police to arrive. The boy, who was 12 years old, had taken a short cut through the cemetery on his way to a playground but had gotten lost. While Harlander waited for the police to arrive, he stayed with the boy and let him look inside the truck.
“It was pretty bizarre,” Harlander said. “I’m glad he got out of that cemetery.”
The boy was returned home safely.
Harlander’s Angel award honor included a lapel pin, a patch, decals and certificate of appreciation.
Based in Alexandria, Va., the Truckload Carriers Association has recognized more than 50 truck drivers every year with Angel awards – a total of 1,300 since the program began in 1997. Each year, an Angel of the Year trucker is chosen from the 50 or so honorees within that particular year.
Last year’s Angel of the Year was Zach Yeakley of Batesville, Ark. On March 17, 2022, he helped rescue six people from a deadly chain-reaction collision that involved more than 45 vehicles. The disaster occurred in dense fog on a road in Charleston, Mo.
Yeakley was trained as a combat lifesaver during his 15 years with the Army National Guard. Along with paramedics who arrived at the horrific highway scene, Yeakley helped rescue victims from burning vehicles.
The rescuers were literally surrounded by walls of flame.
Six people died in the catastrophe.
Yeakley, a truck driver for four years, later said he would not hesitate to jump back into a fire again to rescue people should such an awful scenario ever happen again while he is trucking.
