When David Dale first learned that he was receiving a free car from the Military Warriors Support Foundation, he was stunned.
The former U.S. Army Specialist, who has lived in Odessa for 15 years, said he didn’t know much at first about some of the different military support foundations that help veterans who are struggling.
Before submitting his application two years ago, he didn’t know if anything would happen.
However, after going through an extensive vetting process, Dale was eventually chosen to receive this life-changing gift.
Dale, along with his wife Samantha and daughters Liberty and Justice, were presented with the brand-new Chevy Malibu in a ceremony that took place Wednesday at All American Chevrolet of Odessa.
“I was shocked and amazed,” Dale said. “I was grateful. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. My family’s been struggling so much financially. This is a godsend. It’s a blessing.”
The vehicle was presented by Military Warriors Support Foundation’s Transportation4Herores program, in collaboration with Wells Fargo and All American Chevrolet of Odessa.
Dale was born and raised in Georgia.
He joined the U.S. Army in 2004 and became a M1 Abrams Tank Crew member and was assigned to the First Calvary Division stationed at Fort Hood.
He was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and was wounded in action in 2007 while conducting combat patrol operations.
After spending several months in the hospital and going through rehabilitation, he was medically discharged from service in March 2008.
He received the Purple Heart , Combat Action Badge and several other awards during his service.
Since 2015, Military Warriors Support Foundations Transportation4Heroes program has worked with companies across the country to award over 150 payment-free vehicles.
In addition to providing vehicles, MWSF supports combat wounded veterans and Gold Star spouses through family and financial mentorship connected programs.
The application has a rigorous vetting process to ensure that the veteran chosen to receive a vehicle is the best recipient to participate in the program.
“David went to militarywarriors.org and he filled out the application and showed that he needed a vehicle,” Director of Program Advancement at MWSF David Daugherty said. “After the vetting process, he was selected out of all the people that applied for it from Odessa.”
For him, the new car is a huge financial weight off his shoulders.
“Words can’t describe it,” Dale said. “I never thought I would be gifted a car in my life especially one as nice as this one.”
Head of Strategic Alliances and Relationship Management at Wells Fargo Gary Schultz talked more about the program.
“Since 2015, we’ve partnered with the Military Warrior Support Foundation in supporting programs such as financial literacy and vehicle donations. This is our 80th vehicle donation to a veteran. We do this nationwide. It’s a great opportunity for us to give back to veterans and the communities which they serve, in this case, taking a burden off a military veteran family. It’s something less that they have to worry about as far as making a payment and giving them a reliable vehicle and giving them a vehicle where they can get to school and get to work and get the kids to where they need to go.”
For Dale, he’s grateful for the MWSF and the work its done to help other veterans.
“I can’t thank them enough,” Dale said. “This is healing. I didn’t know what to do for many years. Just reaching out and talking to other people helped. Things like this help out tremendously. These organizations take care of guys like us. What we went through was hard, but it’s even harder to transition back to civilian life. Being forced to transition back from one life to another is difficult.”
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