OK War Veteran Down On Luck, Friends Hope To Surprise With Donations

An Air Force veteran is living on scraps and picking up items from the dumpster to furnish his apartment. His friends are now looking for donations to help him out.

Leo Hardie is a Korean War veteran who now lives in Yukon. He was most recently a school bus driver, but Hardie went through major health problems over the last year. He had to get surgery and ended up with more than a month of recovery.

At 79 years old and post-surgery, Hardie can no longer go back to work and has fallen into hard times.

“I had to sell my house because I couldn’t afford to get it fixed up and everything,” said Hardie.

He kept his bed and his dog, Scarlett, but everything else had to go. Hardie moved into a small one-bedroom apartment in Yukon, as it was all he could afford.

For a makeshift dining table, he now sets a piece of plywood on an old wooden chair that he picked up from the dumpster and calls it a table.

“It’s the same thing as having a dinette set,” he said.

Hardie said he looks around for people throwing away furniture, and will pick it up and clean it up for his own place.

Hardie admitted that the surgery put him in rough shape. Not only that, his wife passed away and he said he often feels lonely. But during the interview with News 9, he never once asked for help. It’s Hardie’s friends who are most concerned for his well-being.

His friend Destiny Graham is working to collect donations for Hardie’s apartment. She’s hoping for a table, a couch, television or something as simple as utensils, pots and pans.

Graham said, “For someone to give so much and have so little, it blows my mind. And he is okay with it and he will never tell you that he needs anything.”

Hardie said he is as happy as he can be for what he has. He often sits on his wooden chair and listens to music from his boom box. He played a song and said, “This gets me through a tough day.”

In high spirits, Hardie said, “I’ve been through a lot, but I’m okay. I’ll make it.”

To donate items to Hardie, reach out to Destiny Graham at (405)201-8540. You can find his gofundme page here.