Remote control toy truck saves soldiers in Afghanistan

Six soldiers saved from roadside bomb in Afghanistan by toy remote-control truck

BY GABRIELA RESTO-MONTERO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, August 9th 2011

ABC
Staff Sgt. Chris Fessenden with the suped-up remote control car that saved the lives of six soldiers in Afghanistan.

The lives of six troops fighting in Afghanistan were saved when a roadside bomb was detonated with a remote-control truck that a comrade had gotten in the mail from a brother, NBC reported.

Staff Sgt. Chris Fessenden first started using the $500 toy truck to scout for bombs during his 2007 deployment in Iraq. The suped-up plaything is equipped with a wireless video camera.

A group of soldiers in Afghanistan borrowed the toy from Fessenden recently and used it to check for IEDs while on patrol. It tripped a wire that caused 500 pounds of explosives to go off.

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