Kenny Jary (born 1942), better known as Patriotic Kenny, is an United States Navy veteran and social media personality; who became a viral sensation from videos that he made with his neighbor, Amanda Kline. His well-known catchphrase, "Oh my goodness, Amanda!", is in reference to Kline.
Kenny Jary grew up in a military family near St. Paul's West Seventh Street in Minnesota. Both his father (Army) and Uncle Jim (Navy) served during World War II. Jary joined the Navy Reserve in 1959; and graduated from Monroe High School in St. Paul, Minnesota a year later. He served during the Cuban Missile Crisis on the USS Okinawa. Jary continued active duty and served as a helicopter refueler until 1963. Following his service, he worked at the Ford plant in St. Paul, Minnesota for 32 years.
Amanda Kline is a full-time teacher at Metro Deaf School in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is founder and content creator of @patriotickenny; and co-founder of "Did You Know That". In 2021, Kline met Jary outside a coffee shop in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. A friendship ensued and Kline set up a TikTok account that featured Jary as "Patriotic Kenny". The premiere video showed Jary learning ASL to sign "Thank you" and "Hello" to his deaf buddy, Jerry. A month later, Kline uploaded a video sharing the news that Jary's mobility scooter had broken and he did not have the money to fix it. A GoFundMe campaign raised $5,000 within the first day. Jary's video response on September 19, 2021, received over 12.5 million views. Within two days, the campaign raised over $100,000; prompting Kline and Jary to gift 10 free scooters to other veterans in need. By 2022, the campaign had gifted 50 scooters to disabled veterans. In a 2022 interview, Kline stated that she "tries to post a new video by 8 each night." "I kept getting messages from people, saying, 'I couldnâÂÂt go to bed last night because there wasn't a video'," Kline said. As of 2026, "Patriotic Kenny" has over 3 million followers on TikTok and over 900,000 on Instagram. In 2023, Kline authored the children's book Kenny's Bright Red Scooter with illustrations by Julie Bourne.
In a March 2026 video, Jary announced himself that he was suffering from stage 4 lung cancer. Another GoFundMe campaign was launched by Kline to aid in raising funds for Jary toward medical treatment and "funeral costs", according to Jary. Due to an overwhelming response from online fans and followers, funds exceeded expectations, prompting Jary, with the assistance of Kline, to "pay it forward" by contributing to the Patriotic Kenny Foundation. The non-profit foundation provides mobility scooters to veterans: âÂÂfree of red tape.â According to Kline, GoFundMe donations totaled $3,000 in the "first five minutes"; and in 20 hours, "people gave $147,000." Coverage of the campaigns and foundation was featured on The Today Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, On the Road with Steve Hartman, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America.
Jary married Carol Marsh in 1965. They had three children and divorced in 1988; but remained close until Marsh's death in 2018. Jary's life-partner, Barbara Sanz, died in 2017.