Soldier Returns From Overseas, Surprised by Restored Corvette

Article contributed by Mitch Talley

There’s nothing that says America much better than a Corvette and a soldier.

Put the two together, and you’ve definitely got a winning combination.

Add in a loving wife, a whale of a surprise, and the camaraderie of the Corvette community, and well, it doesn’t get much better than that!

In Acworth, Ga., a small town just north of Atlanta, all those ingredients combined to make Saturday morning a day that Sgt. First Class Adam Troxel will never forget.

His wife, Holly, has always made it a point to surprise her husband upon his return from serving our country in places like South Korea, Iraq, and Panama. He joined the military in 1988 and returned to active duty in 2006 after 11 years with the Acworth Police Department.

But she outdid herself this time. With the help of the Classic Glass Corvette Club in Marietta, Holly had her husband’s 1980 red Corvette restored over the past few months.

Their 15-year-old son, Cody, talked his dad into visiting the Day’s Chevrolet showroom in Acworth on Jan. 7 on the guise of looking at a car he’s interested in when he turns 16.

When they arrived at the dealership, however, a crowd of about 50 people was there to applaud not only the restoration of the car, but Adam Troxel’s service to his country.

“Today is your day,” Larry Yon, outgoing president of the club, told the surprised soldier. “I want you to know that Classic Glass Corvette Club is honored and proud of what we’ve done for you. We are proud to have you as a member of our club and we are proud of your service.”

While he was overseas, SFC Troxel thought his wife was just taking his car to the dealership for a brake job and an estimate on a repaint.

“Wow!” he told the well-wishers in the showroom upon seeing the shiny red Corvette. “Thank you all so much. I am so humbled and so proud at the same time. I don’t even know if I can sit in it, it’s such a great work of art. It is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen since I met my wife.”

Teamwork was the name of the game in the restoration effort, as 15 club members and 15 area vendors pitched in to make the car good as new.

“It was awesome to get everybody in the Corvette community together,” said Scott Oliver, a member of the club who helped coordinate the restoration. “We had a lot of people who wanted to help who had never done this before. It kind of became like a high school shop class.”

It’s one class that SFC Troxel and his family and new friends passed with flying colors!

Source:
Cherokee Tribune

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