Barr wows audience with war experiences
Dave Barr (age 67), a legendary war veteran and double amputee left listeners in awe when he told them how he lost his legs during a landmine explosion in Angola and what it took to survive and to pick up the pieces of his life.
Jannie Kotze introduced the American guest speaker at the Old Jail on May 3 – an event hosted by the Parachute Veterans Organisation (PVO). Barr joined multiple forces during his years as a veteran, but he lost his legs in die middle of his two years service for the South African Defence Force as a paratrooper in 1981.
“At 15:30 I got a bad feeling. I told my comrades that something was wrong,” Barr told his listeners. Not soon after, their vehicle drove over a landmine.
“The last thing I heard was a pop in my left ear,” Barr said. He was stuck in the Jeep they were travelling in that caught on fire. Barr said that he was burning alive when he felt a pair of hands helping him out of the vehicle by Colonel Jan Breytenbach.
Barr’s broken legs were folded up next to his body so that he could be escorted to a medical centre. He underwent excruciating pain for 11 and a half hours before surgery without any morphine. He lost both his legs, on the left below the knee and on the right above the knee, and his entire back was burnt.
The doctor told Barr that his soldier days were over. “I told him that we will see about that,” Barr said. He underwent 20 operations and Barr said that he couldn’t sleep because of the pain.
The recovery process was not easy for Barr.
“My elbows’ skin was scraped off and I was covered in bruises when I learned how to walk with the prosthetic legs,” Barr laughs.
With a focused mind and determination, Barr was able to complete his tour of duty in the South African Defence Force – proving his doctor wrong.
After Barr left the army he set a world record for riding a Harley-Davidson 83 000 miles around the world which included a 13 000 miles Atlantic to Pacific segment across Northern Europe and Siberia. Barr had to drive the 13 000 miles during winter.
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“It was okay, because I didn’t get cold feet,” Barr joked. After Barr finished his speech, all the paratroopers saluted him. The pride and respect shown towards Barr was immeasurable.
Mike McWilliams has been one of Barr’s closest friend since 1979. He also attended the meeting and talked about the ‘Skillie Human Project’ that the PVO is working on and of which he is president. Andries ‘Skillie’ Human was last seen on 4 May, 1978.
He was only found missing when the parabats returned to base. After years of investigation, they found his body where he had fallen and drowned in a river near a local village that buried his remains. The PVO wants to get Skillie’s remains back to South Africa this year because Rachel Human, Skillie’s wife is severely ill and needs closure.
The parabats will be hosting other events in the future. For more information contact Jannie Kotze on 082 386 3244.
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