Knuckleharley (Arthur Hines)

[Plymouthy Adams]

Officer Grandy from the sheriff's office in NC called me today and informed me that Arthur passed away and I do not know any more details at this time.  Their records show where while back I had asked for a welfare check as he dropped off the forum and would not answer his phone thus they called me.    Nothing in the papers at this time that I can find.  I will stay on this a bit and see what I can learn.   Rest in peace knuckleharley.....

 

Edited July 17 by Plymouthy Adams

[Los_Control]

Thanks for being a good neighbor and looking after him ..... I remember he was not in the best of health a couple years ago.

He did take time out to appoint a guardian of his estate and a will ..... He was a good guy and looking ahead ..... I will miss him.

[sidevalvepete]

Sad news alright. Lots of posts from Knuckleharley from way back that dried up a while ago. He had an interesting life in his early days, being a veteran of the Vietnam ( or American ) war - depending where you come from. I enjoyed some correspondence with him...

Thanks for letting us know Tim

[Young Ed]

Sad news indeed. RIP

[ggdad1951]

Mac V Sog?  Never knew that about him....tough as nails!

 

RIP

 

[sidevalvepete]

Thought I would leave a few things here about Arthur, aka Knuckleharley. Have had a few pm conversations with him over the last few years up until he went quiet on the forum some months ago. He had no close family that he had connections with so without that I wanted to leave a bit more about him here as a bit of remembrance.

 

Arthur Hines got past 75. He never thought he would get past 25. In his earlier life he spent some time involved in the Vietnam War ( as you guys know it in the US, or the American War if you are from SE Asia ). As Plymouthy's post shows, he was in MACVSOG. Look it up if you need to...Special Ops then was a top secret group operating across North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia running offensive ops against the NVA. Mostly 6 man teams running around poisoning their food supply, getting into their ammo dumps and salting them with 'ammo' that exploded when fired, pow snatches, hits on NVA officers etc, etc, etc. If areas got to hot they would send in a Hatchet Force Team to assault the NVA positions. This tended to make them a bit shyer chasing the 6 man teams...On one occasion he remembered being on morning parade with 6 MOH winners. When you consider how hard it is to get medals in covert operations, this says a lot. There were about 30 men in each FOB recon company at any one time. Some months the casualty rate was over 50%. Medal of Honor winner and friend of Arthur's, Franklin Miller, co-wrote a book called "Reflections Of A Warrior" covering these times. Arthur is mentioned a few times in this book.

 

Knuckle has been a member since 2006. He had a bunch of mopars, '33 and '48 Plymouth coupes, '33 Dodge 4dr, '42 Dodge coupe, 49 Chrysler Windsor coupe and a '37 Dodge 4x4 truck. Also a bunch of non mopars - '32, '34, '38 and '53 Fords. Mostly coupes. He had got crook years ago with lymphoma, from all the 'friendly fire' agent orange that drenched him in the jungle. Not having family, he had arranged his estate to leave money to a couple of local charities. One for animals I believe.

 

Anyway, that's a bit about Arthur...RIP.

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I knew he was without close family members and also did not leave his place unattended knowing the vultures were watching his place to pick it clean if he was not there.  His military career was a rough one, the onset of disease after exposure was just a matter of time.  My hat I hold in hand in honor of his commitment to this country.  There have been zero obits posted.  My only concern is if he will get proper burial with military honors, I did not know his final wishes in regard to this and can only hope if so elected, his wishes will be honored.  

[58prostreet]

I met Arthur one time about 7 or 8 years ago. He had a 55 plymouth front bumper he wanted $150 for. He was in Coinjock, N.C. and I live about 40 miles away, so I went to his place to check it out. He had a whole lot full of cars and trucks plus a quanset hut full of cars. One was a 32 ford coupe with a Hemi in it. Anyway, I had to take the bumper off the car so he got me a piece of card board and some tools. He was in pretty bad shape. He was bent over, limped, and generally in rough shape. After I got the bumper off, I said "You'll take a check, right", and he said "hell no, I told you cash", which he had. I started laughing and handed him $150 and he started to laugh. I stayed another hour or so with him listening to his biker and Viet Nam stories. He was quiet a character and I wish I could have gotten to know him better. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

After numerous attempts to locate anything on the internet and a couple calls to Currituck Co. NC I have now been able to locate the obit and arrangements for Arthur.  

 

Arthur Ray Hines Obituary

 

Arthur Ray Hines, born January 29, 1947, in Virginia Beach, VA, passed away on July 14, 2024, at ECU Health Medical Center. He was 77 years old.

 

Arthur proudly served in the U.S. Army. After his service in the Army, he dedicated many years to his community as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service. His commitment to his work was unwavering and greatly appreciated by all who knew him.

 

A graveside service with military honors will be held on Friday, August 9, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Laurel Memorial Gardens, 1115 Macedonia Church Road, Poplar Branch, NC.

 

Arthur Ray Hines will be remembered with respect and gratitude by those who knew him and benefited from his service.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1942 or www.stjude.org/donate.

 

Twiford Funeral Homes, 405 E. Church Street, Elizabeth City, NC is assisting the Hines’ Family. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.

[greg g]

Tim, thanks for the effort put in to find Arthur's final arrangements.  rip KNUCKLE. my wife and I will be 76 this fall and have talked about prearranging our funerals,   wonder if GTK could set up a link where stuff could be posted by funeral homes to let our friends and acquaintances  here know we have taken our last trips.

[Veemoney]

Thank You for the follow-ups on Knuckle. GBNF

[ggdad1951]

Glad to see he is getting the military honors he greatly deserves.

[Rodney_Hamon]

About a dozen years or so ago I joined the Plymouth club with my newly acquired P-23 that was rough.  Knuckleharley was very encouraging to me and helped me get over the “shy hurdle” of joining this forum eventually.  I was following the WPC and this forum as a lurker for several years.  WPC changed and the Plymouth forum ended.  I will remember him fondly.  Btw, my father in law was a marine and when he died 4 years ago he had requested an honor guard salute prior to dying. It was a moving experience 

[dpollo]

I enjoyed a correspondence with Knuckleharley. Even sold him some parts !  Purchased and read the book mentioned above.  RIP, Arthur.