Soldier lives to see his street dream

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April 9, 2010

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Fri Apr 09, 2010, 10:27 PM CDT

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

LAMAR, Mo. — It was just what Brian Stoner needed to keep him grounded after putting in a 10-hour day as a helicopter pilot in the embattled skies over Afghanistan.

Instead of reliving that day’s war when he went to bed at night, he would dream of the cool street rod he would drive when he got back to the United States.

That dream came true on Friday when Stoner picked up his 1933 Ford Cabriolet replica at Redneck Street Rods and Fast Eddie Hot Rod Shop in Lamar.

“I’m taking it home,’’ said Stoner. “I’m going to put a Ford 302 small block in it. It’s going to be silver on top and dark blue below. We haven’t decided on the interior yet.’’

But the story goes much deeper than a soldier and his first street rod. It’s about an e-mail friendship that would develop over the course of a year and span 8,000 miles.

Stoner, who lives in Big Rock, Tenn., was looking for someone to help him build a street rod in November 2008 before he was deployed from Fort Campbell in Kentucky to Afghanistan. That was when he made contact with Tim Riegel, Brian Brewer and Kerry “Bubba’’ Greenlee in Lamar.

“He inquired and wanted a quote on one of our Fiberglass bodies,’’ said Riegel. “It wasn’t long after that we ended up having contact with him every other day. It kept his mind off the war at night.

“It helped us understand what he was going through. We really didn’t know what was going on there,’’ said Riegel.

The e-mail correspondence between a body shop in Lamar and a military base north of Kabul where Stoner was stationed involved more than just talk about a car. Riegel and his co-workers became absorbed in what Stoner was doing every day.

When two of Stoner’s buddies were wounded, they were there for him. When Stoner was awakened one morning by a Chinese rocket that hit 20 feet from his barracks, they knew about it. They started pulling for him.

Said Bubba Greenlee: “We complain about getting woke up in the morning by a barking dog and he’s waking up to a Chinese rocket.’’

Added Riegel: “This was a guy who had already served in Kosovo and Iraq.’’

Stoner, who is now a few months away from retirement, sent them photos of the helicopter he flew in Afghanistan and some U.S. flags that flew over his base there. As time passed, Stoner’s buddies in Afghanistan took an interest in his car, too. They wanted to see what it looked like and the progress he was making.

“Everybody was showing support,’’ he said. “It’s that support that you get when you’re there that really helps. It kept me grounded in reality and not so wound up in what was going on there, especially when we went outside the wire.’’

“We always looked forward to hearing from him,’’ said Riegel.

In May 2009 while on leave, Stoner drove to Lamar to meet his new friends face to face for the first time.

“He spent three days working with us before he returned,’’ said Brewer.

Said Riegel: “We got to thinking about it. What can we do? This was his dream to own one of these cars. What if we did our part to support the troops and gave him the body? Of course to get it, we told him he would have to come back,’’ said Riegel.

So, in a Sunday e-mail near the end of his tour, Stoner learned that the body for his street rod was going to be a gift from his friends in Lamar.

“It really gave him something to think about. It was our way to say thanks to him for risking his life for our country,’’ said Riegel.

“I’ll never forget that e-mail,’’ said Stoner. “When I showed it to my wife, she couldn’t believe it. I just had to get back alive.’’

Hot rod shop

Fast Eddie Hot Rod Shop and Redneck Street Rods have been in business for about five years. They have created or restored more than 30 vehicles, including several that have been featured on the covers of national hot rod magazines.