Extreme Truck Makeover for National Guardsman

Friends, family provide secret service for Guardsman from Central Point
Mail Tribune
By Sam Wheeler
May 24, 2014

Two-dozen years in the military and a tour apiece in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't made Sgt. 1st Class Mike Walker a big fan of surprises, but that's just what he got on Friday.

Walking into Bob Thomas Automotive with his wife Christa, Walker was expecting to drive out with his old Chevrolet pickup that he dropped off months ago to get the four-wheel-drive switch fixed.

Walker took his old Chevy back to his Central Point home — with a bumper-to-bumper, wheels-to-roof overhaul thanks to nearly 20 local businesses that donated time, labor and materials to spruce up the truck as a "thank you," for his service.

Bob Thomas led Walker from the front office to the shop where about 50 people and the made-over 2000 Chevy were waiting for him.

"I am a first sergeant and I am speechless. That's not supposed to happen. I get paid to yell at people," said a stunned Walker. "I am just so grateful, humbled, a little embarrassed. ... Thank you."

The reupholstered pickup was sprayed with fresh paint, sitting high on a new lift kit and shiny new wheels and tires, sporting a new custom-made front bumper and winch and ready to roll with an engine tune up. Oh, the four-wheel drive switch was fixed too.

The back window displays a design to memorialize Capt. Bruno Giancarlo de Solenni, a Southern Oregon University student who, along with Walker, served with the Oregon Army National Guard in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in 2008.

De Solenni, a Crescent City native, was killed Sept. 20, 2008 by a roadside bomb. The 32-year-old and Walker were working on an anti-drug task force near Kandahar when he died.
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