Fallen Soldier’s Car Recovered And Given To Son For 15th Birthday

To a lot of people, a 1999 Toyota Celica isn’t much. But to this young man, it was everything. Justin Rozier never knew his father. He was an Army first lieutenant killed in action in Iraq when Justin wasn’t even a year old.

But much to his surprise, on his 15th birthday, he received a pretty special gift. It was the same 1999 Toyota Celica convertible his dad used to drive. Who cut the onions? His mother miraculously found the car through lots of searching, a little luck, the power of social media and the goodwill of strangers. Stories like this still prove there is good in the world.

Earlier this year his mother found the old car’s registration and thought that would be a good thing to start with in order to find the car. After turning to Facebook with the car’s VIN, photos of the actual car, her son and his late father she struck some luck.

People of FaceBook got to work and found out that the car was still in use and had last been registered in Utah. She contacted the current owner who, after hearing her story, was more than happy to sell the car back to the family.

She then heard from a nonprofit in Utah, Follow The Flag, which set up a GoFundMe in order to raise money to help buy back the car and pay for repairs. The organization also reached out to students at Brigham Young to redo the upholstery on the car’s worn seats. What a great first car and birthday present. Faith in humanity restored.