During conversation with the buyer, as we were doing the paperwork and finalizing the transaction, he asked what prompted me to purchase the vehicle in the first place. I told him it was destined to be a 'living legacy' for my cousin, USMC 1st LT Ryan McGlothlin, who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2005 (I know, the truck was ARMY and he was USMC, but I digress). The events surrounding his death were never fully disclosed to the family, but the short version we were given was "his unit was ambushed, and he sacrificed himself providing cover fire to get his platoon out of the building where the ambush occurred." At the time of his death, they located a poem in his pocket, on a piece of paper he always carried with him. The poem was entitled "DONT QUIT." I hadnt yet gotten around to it, but I had intended to have my LMTV tagged with a vanity plate: "DNTQU1T" Sadly DNTQUIT wasnt available, someone already has that tag in MD and its NOT on a vehicle befitting of such a license plate.
This is all to say the seller, a veteran himself and spearheading the veteran non-profit going to FLORIDA, offered to stencil my cousins name on the truck as the OIC once they get back from their efforts in Florida. I couldn't ask for a better use of the truck and a better rolling memorial for my cousin.
