Harley-Davidson Refuses Military Wife's Late Payment, Then She Sees Note They Attached

Harley-Davidson Refuses Military Wife’s Late Payment, Then She Sees Note They Attached

A Harley-Davidson dealership refused a late payment from a military wife, leaving her confused, until she saw the note attached to her returned payment.

When Harley-Davidson dealership owner Dennis Packee wrote the letter to the soldier’s wife, he didn’t expect it to go viral.

Packee was only trying to reach out and help an individual who he understood was going through a difficult time. While he did write the letter from his heart, he never would have guessed that it would touch so many thousands of people when it was later shared online.

Before he was deployed overseas, Christopher Walters rented a space at Reiman’s Harley-Davidson to store his motorcycle. While he was away, his wife Jaime failed to stay on top of the payments for the rental space. As she had two children to watch over, she was overwhelmed with all of the responsibility now that Christopher had left for his tour of duty.

Because of unexpected problems that had popped up, Jaime fell behind on the Harley-Davidson payments. When she realized her mistake, she sent the late check in the mail with a long apology.

In her apology letter, Jamie explained her reasons behind the late payment. When Dennis read her letter, he refused to take her money, knowing that she needed it more than he did.

“You send that money back to her,” he told his office employee. “I never, ever!”

Decades ago, Dennis was almost drafted into the Vietnam War. But when he had his medical examined, he was discharged. Ever since then, he has understood the sacrifices the men and women who serve America make on a regular basis.

And he has always been looking for creative ways to give back. When he saw Jamie’s letter and late payment, he recognized that this was one of those opportunities.

Accepting Jamie’s money was not only a problem for Dennis, it was against a policy Dennis instituted more than 18 years ago.

He wrote back to Jamie, returning her money, and explaining the dealership’s policy.

“Enclosed, you will find the check you mailed to us regarding the account of Christopher,” Dennis’s letter read. “It is the policy of Reiman’s Harley-Davidson to waive storage fees for our active duty service members who are deployed. It is our honor to keep your bike safe and secure while you provide us with our freedoms.”

After sending the letter, he forgot all about it… Until he was flooded with calls of goodwill.

Random people started calling to thank him. Jamie had posted Dennis’s letter online and it had gone viral.

Because Dennis doesn’t even use Facebook, he didn’t understand how it worked. But the attention not only shocked him but increased his love for America.

“It was impossible to answer them all. I got to thinking, this is America and people DO care. They care about their soldiers and they’re expressing that,” Dennis said. “America is still America. I was a little worried about how our country was going, and to see people step forward in this way, it’s just enlightened me. A small effort like this, and look where it’s gone. Maybe more will do the same thing.”

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