Dream car for wounded soldier

Muskegon News:

Grown men wept.

Veterans of war and soldiers on active duty stood shoulder to shoulder, clutching small American flags, trying to hold onto their emotions.

Women in the crowd issued silent prayers, immediately sending them heavenward to protect others stationed in harm’s way.

When U.S. Army Spec. Brendan Marrocco wheeled into Hot Rod Harley-Davidson in downtown Muskegon Friday, pushed in his wheelchair because he has no hands and no legs, a casualty of the war in Iraq, men who have seen the horrors of war up close dissolved into tears.

“Welcome home, soldier,” called out an emotional David Eling, who was a medic in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Eling is executive director of Muskegon County’s Department of Veteran Affairs.

“Thank you for serving,” he said, his voice thick with tears.

And with that, people from all corners of the community erupted into spontaneous applause, their way of thanking the 23-year-old Marrocco for his sacrifice and service.

Marrocco was severely injured in a deadly explosion in Iraq on April 12, 2009 — Easter Sunday — when his convoy was “blasted” by the enemy. His best friend, Michael Anaya, a kid from Florida, died in the explosion. Somehow, Marrocco survived.

But he was injured so badly, all four of his limbs had to be amputated. His mother, Michelle Marrocco, was told her son is the armed services’ first quadruple amputee to survive.

“What a testimony to the medical attention those guys are getting,” Eling said. “Any other war, he wouldn’t have survived.”

Marrocco, who isn’t from Muskegon and whom no one in the room knew before Friday, came to the community’s attention earlier this week. The wounded soldier, who is stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., told someone his dream car was a 2006 Dodge Charger SRTB.

He found the car here in West Michigan.

Carl Miskotten, who co-owns Hot Rod Harley-Davidson in Muskegon and West Michigan Auto Auction in Wayland, heard of Marrocco’s wish from his dad, Alex Marrocco, with whom he does business in New Jersey.

On Friday, Brendan Marrocco, with his dad and brother, Michael Marrocco, got his dream car in Wayland thanks to a coalition of government funds, Miskotten and other community donors. Then they drove to Muskegon to make a stop at the motorcycle shop to show it off — and meet scores of people who didn’t stay strangers for long.

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There is more.

What a wonderful community. There are several photos of the soldier and his car. It is a very heart warming story.