A Soldier's Story: Randy Joe Mantooth
From the Tennessee hills to Iraq to Idealia
At first, there appears to be nothing special about Randy Joe Mantooth. Like hundreds, maybe even a thousand, other people, he is a short-track race car driver pursuing competitive fun on a race track and in a car that harkens back to the "good old days" of the auto racing. But his journey to where he is now - driver of the #18 Chevrolet 1939 coupe legends car - is extraordinary. It has taken him from the real world of Iraq to the unreal world billed as just over the clouds, just out of human reach.
With America in his high holy days of patriotism, from the Memorial Day holiday and the D-Day anniversary just passed through to Flag Day and the Fourth of July coming up, Mantooth doesn't mind his story being told. In fact, he would have it no other way.
"I don't feel like an extraordinary American," Mantooth said. "All my life, I have done all that I've wanted to do, and I have felt proud of it every day."
Randy was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, in the "Tri-Cities" of Tennessee and Virginia. His parents, Ralph and Sharon, named him for the actor who in the late 1970s was one of America's most famous heartthrobs for his starring role on the NBC series Emergency.
When Randy was four, Ralph, who wanted to settle down in an area more rural than that of the Tri-Cities and pursue a career in the forestry, moved the family to Newport. The town is located about halfway between Knoxville and Kingsport and is also the hometown of former NASCAR Busch Series driver L.D. Ottinger.
It was Ottinger's exploits that inspired Mantooth to get into racing.
"I read in the paper about how he was one of the best there was [in Busch, where he finished in the top-10 of the season points seven times]," says Mantooth. "All the kids, not just me, all of them wanted to be like L.D. My first race was at age 16 at the Atomic City Speedway in Knoxville. Got my butt kicked. Finished 13th out of 14."
But Mantooth got better at it. He had several top-5 finishes and was poised for his first win at Atomic City when it suddenly closed. At that point, his dream seemed to be derailed forever.
"I could not imagine what I would do with my spare time [after the track closed]," he recalls. "I was already drifting from job to job, fast food, cleaning, lots of things. I was also going to the community college in Morristown, and there I started to take ROTC [Reserve Officers' Training Corps]."
"I wanted him to take ROTC," continues Sharon. "He needed discipline and determination in his life, and I figured that this was the best place for him to go and get that."
Mantooth did not join the military from ROTC, but did graduate from both community college and East Tennessee State University with engineering degrees. He returned to Newport and opened a body shop, which later expanded to a used-car dealership.
From an associate, Mantooth heard about the Tennessee National Guard. He attended orientation and loved the fact that he could be called upon in emergencies, both in his community and elsewhere, while he kept his business going. "Being a citizen-soldier to be was the best of all worlds. Part of my nature is very keen to helping other people, and that what they do [in the National Guard]."
Little did he know where he would go to help people - and how dangerous it would be.
Another kind of 'far, far away'
When the United States and allied nations launched the War on Terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the role of the National Guard changed significantly. The Guard was given new responsibilities to protect Americans, both in the U.S. and in other countries.
Those other responsibilities included helping American troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
On September 23, 2004, Randy Joe Mantooth received his marching orders to go to Iraq. Everyone knew that it was going to be a long and perilous journey.
"You know the 'far, far away' of the Shrek movies?" Sharon laughs. "Well, this is far, far away and this is no fairy tale. It is as real as it gets. People die there all the time, both the residents and the Americans."
"My concern when I left was to make sure that we had all we needed to increase our chances for safety over there," Randy adds. "There were reports that American troops didn't have body armor, or the right clothes, or some other supplies. My commander made it the first priority once we got there to tell us that, yes, we had enough weapons and equipment, all we needed to fight against the enemy."
Mantooth would spend 13 months in Iraq. He recalls that he and his fellow Guard members had two major missions in the country: to help the Army volunteers who were working in the military hospitals, and to help the public relations efforts to spread the word of the benefits of democracy.
"From about 6 in the morning to 2 or 3 in the afternoon, we were in the field hospitals. We helped the soldier/doctors tend to the wounds of the patients. I had no medical training prior to the Guard, but I learned quickly and helped hundreds of soldiers recover. Their wounds came from the usual causes: roadside bombs, IUD [radiation weapons], and in some cases even accidental shootings."
As he continues, Randy breaks down and begins to cry: "About 90 percent of the soldiers survived, but when one of our own died, it was absolutely [heartbreaking]. You always wonder why did they have to die. They were so young and all of them had dreams for their lives."
The other part, which began as soon as the hospital work ended, was much more pleasant. "We broke up into groups and every other day, we would visit schools, mosques, and other facilities. We told stories and sang songs to everyone, children and adults. The overall themes were about goodness and light and freedom."
"Didn't you once sing 'Bluebird' to them," Ralph asks, referring to Buddy Wayne Barefoot's hit solo guitar song.
"Yes, I did," Mantooth answers. "Originally, it was about Buddy's struggle to get away from his dad, but it leads to the whole theme of escaping a burden one has always had. That's why it's so universal. The people got it right away. Admittedly, though, I can't sing like Buddy can. But to them it didn't matter."
After his discharge, Mantooth returned to Tennessee. But one night, another event happened that changed his life dramatically. And it led him face-to-face with his favorite celebrity.
'My wildest dreams'
Mantooth was aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Nashville to Los Angeles by way of Delta's Western hub in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was flying west to attend the funeral of a fellow nurse who had stayed in Iraq, but was killed by a IUD attack. The nurse lived in southern California. When he was at cruising altitude over Arkansas, something strange happened to Mantooth, his wife Jennifer, and their three-year-old son Bryan.
"The seat belt unbuckled and I was thrown right off the plane," he remembers. "For a second, we all thought that we were going to die. The next thing I know, I was right on top of a cloud! This looked like a fantastic work of fiction, but this was all true. My God, it was true!"
"And then the next thing we knew, we were greeted by an angel with the words 'Welcome to Idealia,'" adds Jennifer, now known as Jennifer Looney. "It was like, oh, crap! I thought that heaven, which this looked like, was only for dead people. You mean it's for us, too?"
"There was a little lady there named McBiddlewhiskers. She was a kindly figure with an owl's head. She told us simply that God brought you here for a reason. She asked us to get organized, find our new homes, and wait for our destiny there."
Mantooth waited a few hours. Then suddenly, a car with the green, black and red markings appeared. The design looked odd, but the colors were recognizable - one of the championship cars of Joe Gibbs Racing. The #18, which Bobby Labonte drove to the Winston (now NEXTEL) Cup championship in 2000. Attached to the car was instructions to attend the meeting to reunite Rebel Racing. Mantooth was part of it in 2004, just before he left for Iraq. But those were virtual reality cars. This was the real thing.
"Pinch me," Mantooth recalls himself reacting. "This is finally going to happen. I am back with Buddy Wayne and Bunky [Crabtree] and Bubba Ray [Lumpkin] and the rest of the band. We are back in business!
"I couldn't wait for that first qualifying session at Bowling Hill Speedway. This was where I wanted to be all along. I couldn't have asked for this in my wildest dreams. Thank you!"
But it was bittersweet. Beacuse of Idealia's family policies, Jennifer was sent to the Looney part of the heavenly compound, along with their son, and the marriage was officially dissolved. Randy still sees the wife and young son on occasion.
However, Randy takes the separation in stride, knowing that he has been through much worse in his life, in another land far from where he grew up. And he also knows that he is now home, forever.
"This is just as it says in the Bible. The sun is always shining, the birds are always singing, the trees and the plants are in bloom, and me and my car are at Bowling Hill, getting ready to go racing again."
DISCLAIMER: Of course, neither Randy Joe nor his family are real people, and Idealia and Bowling Hill Speedway aren't real places. Then again, if you've visited this site and know about the other characters, you would already know that. On my site, Randy is played by ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Bobby Bowsher and the car is the 2002 #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac. - D.H.
