DECATUR -- "You got more done in four hours than I could have gotten done in four days," John Campbell told players from the Siloam Springs football team on Thursday morning after the team's second trip to help him and his wife, Karen, clean up fallen trees and debris from the May 26 tornado. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Campbell told the football players.
Two busloads of football players from Siloam Springs, along with Coach Doug Loughridge and his coaching staff, arrived at the Campbell farm about 8:30 a.m. and, instead of their usual workouts, they worked out in a pasture gathering tree branches and other tornado debris and stacking them in piles for burning or other disposal.
State Sen. Tyler Dees worked alongside the players and has been arranging cleanup efforts with coaches and volunteers to help those in the Decatur area clean up after the devastating tornados.
Campbell, wearing his Vietnam Veteran cap, said he really appreciated the team's help because he doesn't know when to stop, and his wife can't get him to stop, despite medical issues that limit his ability to do the work he once did. He said the team's help may have saved his life because he has no quit in him.
He told players that, when a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army, he always watched for those men who didn't give up when there was work to be done but pressed on. He said he saw that trait in some of the football players helping clean up his farm Thursday. He told them that trait would help them go far and succeed in life.
Campbell said he served three tours in Vietnam and participated in other military actions in places few people ever hear about.
To watch Campbell's comments to the football players as recorded by Senator Dees, see https://www.facebook.com/share/v/6Ffw2DUW3wGyr4Vi/.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer The Siloam Springs football team and coaches, along with state senator Tyler Dees, spent Thursday morning helping with cleanup at the John and Karen Campbell farm along WPA Road, west of Decatur. Players and coaches, along with Dees, gathered tree branches and other storm debris in a small pasture in front of the Campbell home while a member of the Campbell family used a skid-steer to drag trees to the brush pile for burning.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer John Campbell thanked the Siloam Springs football team for all the help in cleaning up the downed trees on his property from the May 26 tornado. The team of about 40 members did more in four hours than he could have done with his tractor in four days, he said.
Randy Moll/Westside Eagle Observer John Campbell thanked the Siloam Springs football team for all the help in cleaning up the downed trees on his property from the May 26 tornado. The team of about 40 members did more in four hours than he could have done with his tractor in four days, he said.
