Soldier gets powerful welcome home  |
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| Army Capt. John Pelikan had no idea that his 1968 Ford Mustang would be sitting in the backyard Saturday, restored to its open-highway glory in a gesture of chrome-plated love. Well, maybe he knew something was up. Pelikan had returned home five days earlier than expected from a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan. His family told him that the old Mustang — which his mother, Tamera, called “the other woman in his life” — was in the shop having the radiator fixed. Before he deployed, Pelikan had asked his father to get the car repaired. So, he admits he had wondered since his return home, “‘What else are they doing?’ They told me they were making it reliable,” he said, “and getting it running again.” Instead, family and friends (and the custom builders at an automobile restoration shop) pooled their money to have the Mustang “pimped out,” with classy restraint. Pelikan, who inherited the car from family after graduating from high school in Twentynine Palms, Calif., saw the restored Ford on Saturday morning for the first time. Fifteen relatives, including kin from California, New York and Colorado, gathered to catch his reaction at his grandparents’ home. As he walked onto the back porch of Pelikan’s hazel eyes locked on the “muscle car.” The black of that Ford Mustang body shone in the morning sunlight like a pair of polished church shoes. It sat waiting for his approval, parked under the limbs of a tall pine before a banner that read, “Welcome Home John/ We Love You/ From Your Family and Friends.” “You gotta be kidding me,” he said, approaching the vehicle. “It’s awesome.” “Holy cow,” he added, with a huge grin on his face as he opened the driver’s door and inspected the remodeled interior. “Very nice.” Since returning from his deployment, the 32-year-old had been talking about what he wanted to do with the car. He had set aside some money and intended to redo the interior. Under his ownership, the car never had a functioning heater and it didn’t have air conditioning. Capt. Pelikan has driven the Mustang cross-country on four occasions. The car has been with him throughout his military career. “Every little bit of work I’ve done on it — every improvement — sort of matches some major step in my life. It’s connected with my life,” he said. “This is incredible,” he said. “How could you not like this?” What a nice story, i had to share this with you all on here. How wonderful of his family to do this for him, what a great surprise. What do you think? | | | | | |
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1. dumblnddzzy (10631)
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4 years ago
| | I think that is a wonderful story & thank you for sharing this with us. i also think he has great friends & family, for them to have thought this much of him to do this for him. Wonderful story...Lori | | | | | | |
scags2005 (1411)
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4 years ago
| | Wasn't that a beautiful surprise to come home too, what a nice group of family he has. | | | |
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2. sedel1027 (12989)
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4 years ago
| | What a great story. It is nice that some people show how much they care for others when they are gone. | | | | | | |
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3. drannhh (9927)
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4 years ago
| | That is a wonderful story. I am so happy to hear that happened and thank you for sharing a heartwarming story. | | | | | | |
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scags2005 (1411)
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4 years ago
| | You're all welcome, i just love happy endings and this was definately one. | | | |
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5. Feona1962 (3333)
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4 years ago
| | This is a fantastic story..What better to come home to family and have a major piece of your life waiting for you..That sure was special.. | | | | | | |
scags2005 (1411)
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4 years ago
| | I'm sure he was grinning ear to ear. | | | |
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6. emeraldisle (8959)
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4 years ago
| | I think that was wonderful to read. It's nice to see good stories being shared on here. I think it's wonderful that his family and friends did this for him. Reading it I admit I got a bit blurry eyed. It's one of those stories that make you feel better about the world. That they all came together to salute him in such a manner is incredible and one to remember. | | | | | | |
scags2005 (1411)
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4 years ago
| | So incredible how little it takes to make one so happy in life, more people should go this way. | | | |
emeraldisle (8959)
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4 years ago
| | Some times it is the small things that make us the happiest. I agree I wish more would get together and do things like this. The world would be far better off then. | | | |
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7. wickedangel (1384)
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4 years ago
| | What a wonderful story, thank you for sharing it with us. I think it is absolutely wonderful that friends and family can pool together and do something like this - it was/is obviously his pride and joy and probably nothing else would have been as great a surprise as this act. I bet it brought a couple of tears to his eyes. Isn't love and generosity wonderful things??!?! | | | | | | |
scags2005 (1411)
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4 years ago
| | I thought it was so sweet of the family to do all this for him, what a surprise he had coming home to. | | | |
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8. Hatley (48780)
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4 years ago
| | thanks for a wonderful story and its so great of his family and friends to go to all that trouble so it had to be a gift of real love. this is just fantastic, I would love to have seen the looks on his face when he saw his mustang all restored to its former glory.what fun his family must have had waiting to see his reaction to his car. this is an incredible story. thanks again. | | | | | | |
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