Family
9-Month-Old Justin Lost His Father In Iraq. 15 Years Later, A Surprise Arrives At The Door…
Turning 15 is a unique milestone for teenage boys.
It’s a time for certain talks with dad about girls, new social connections and cars – maybe a time for a driver’s permit that leads to more freedom.
One Texas teenager, Justin Rozier, will never have those talks with dad.
His dad, U.S. Army Lt. Jonathan Rozier, was killed on July 19, 2003, while serving in Iraq.
Justin was only 9 months old.
Justin didn’t expect his upcoming 15th birthday would be anything special; every birthday just has him missing his father, after all.
Then his mother, Jessica Johns, came across an old car registration last July.
She almost threw it away and then she realized…
The car once belonged to Johns’ late husband, Lieutenant Rozier. And that gave Johns an unconventional idea.
What if she somehow found that car for Justin’s 16th birthday?
Nice idea, but kind of a needle-in-a-haystack possibility…
After suddenly finding herself a widow and single parent in 2003, Johns sold her late husband’s 1999 Toyota Celica convertible back to the dealer.
Selling it back to the dealer meant she wouldn’t have to pay for an extra car “just sitting in my driveway,” as she told television news.
And she hadn’t thought of that car again until she found the old car registration.
But what could she do? Well, Johns took a shot in the dark and posted the registration and her idea on social media.
The car could’ve been anywhere – unused in a garage, rotting in a field, or in a junkyard smashed into pieces.
Her original goal was to find the car and get it ready for Justin’s 16th birthday, if it was even available.
“It was Jon’s car (1LT Jonathan Rozier, KIA Iraq 7-19-03) and when he died, I wasn’t thinking ahead to when Justin (his son) would be driving 15 years later,” she posted online.
“If you facebookers could work your magic and help me find it, it would be an amazing present for his 16th birthday if it hasn’t become a tin can by now.”
Then social media magic happened:
The daughter of the car’s current owner contacted Johns. The car was in Utah.
The daughter wasn’t sure her father would give up the car but encouraged Johns to present her idea. She gave Johns her father’s phone number.
“It took me 12 hours to get the courage to call him,” Johns recalled.
The man listened to Johns’ request, but said he would have to think about it.
He called back an hour later.
“I think that your son will get more enjoyment out of having his dad’s car than I would,” Johns remembered him saying.
Beautiful.
And before Johns even thought about how to get the car from Utah to Texas, more good Samaritans were at work.
Follow the Flag, a Utah organization promoting patriotism, contacted Johns after seeing her social media post.
Follow the Flag took the lead and started a crowdsource fundraiser to pay for the car, restore it as needed and transport it back to Texas.
All this would be completed before Justin’s 15th birthday – a year earlier than expected.
“Imagine the feeling of holding the steering wheel of a car your late father once drove,” Follow the Flag co-founder Kyle Fox wrote on the fundraising web page.
“A father you never knew. A father who died in the line of duty serving his country. What a priceless gift.”
Justin was shocked when the car was presented to him in October for his birthday.
“I started getting emotional because I never saw John drive that car home,” Johns said.
The look on Justin’s face was unforgettable, according to Johns, especially when he turned to her for confirmation of the gift.
“I was waiting for him, for it to click – that’s Dad’s car,” she said.
“He starts looking at it, gets in. He looks so much like his dad.“
A car that was once his father’s pride and joy now belongs to Justin. It’s heartbreaking but fitting in so many ways.
It’s a new connection, a talk if you will, from father to son.
Source: Today
