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Fallen Soldier's Car Returned to Son 15 Years Later

Fallen Soldier's Car Returned to Son 15 Years Later
(Screengrab of Twitter post/@GoldStarSDIT)

By    |   Monday, 06 November 2017 12:45 PM EST

A fallen soldier's car has been found, restored and returned to his son in Texas 15 years later.

Justin Rozier was just a few months old when his father, Army 1st Lt. Jonathan Rozier, died in Iraq in 2003, NBC News reported.

After the sudden tragedy newly widowed Jessica Johns returned her husband's 1999 black Toyota Celica convertible to forfeit the loan.

"I didn't want to keep chipping away at my savings to pay for a car that nobody was using," said Johns, according to NBC News. "It was just sitting in my driveway."

As Justin Rozier grew up, he clung to little reminders of his father. One day he told his mother he wanted to own a car that his dad once owned.

"I know that he wishes his dad was here," Johns said, via CBS News.

Seeing this as an opportunity to connect her son with his father, Johns set about the task of trying to track down her husband's convertible.

Her first stop was social media.

Johns shared a post to Facebook with photos of the vehicle as well as the VIN number and a brief story of why she was looking for the car.

The post drew widespread attention, finally being noticed by residents in Pleasant Grove, Utah, who located the vehicle and raised enough money to purchase it before refurbishing it and driving the car all the way to Justin Rozier for his 15th birthday.

"I started getting emotional because I never saw John drive that car home," Johns said, per NBC News.

"I was waiting for him, for it to click that's dad's car," Johns said. "He starts looking at it, gets in, he looks so much like his dad."

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TheWire
A fallen soldier's car has been found, restored and returned to his son in Texas 15 years later.
fallen, soldier, car, son
288
2017-45-06
Monday, 06 November 2017 12:45 PM
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