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By Mike Connors The Virginian-Pilot May 20, 2012 CHESAPEAKE Lance Cpl. Cody Childers was 19 when he died in battle inAfghanistan in August 2010. Childers, a Grassfield High School graduate, left behind a mother,father, younger sister and older brother. He also left behind a1990 Ford F-150 his mother Wendy Childers described as "thelove of his life." Jeff Stewart and Chris Levins never met Cody Childers. But theyboth knew his mom – Levins" wife and Stewart both wentto Great Bridge High with Wendy Childers – and when theyheard about Cody Childers" sacrifice, and his affection forthe truck, they wanted to act. So with the Childers" approval, they took the truck –which had been sitting at the Childers" home in Chesapeake– in February to fix it up. On Sunday afternoon at ChesapeakeCity Park, the Childerses got the truck back. "He loved it the way it was, all rusted out," saidCody"s sister, Cassidy Childers. "So seeing this,I"m sure he"s freaking out." The 20-year-old meant that in a positive way. The family had theirbacks turned when Levins helped a group of Marines uncover thetruck. When they turned around, she was grinning from ear to ear. The body of "Old Red and White," as Cody nicknamed thevehicle, looked brand new. Stickers that Cody had applied stillfilled the back window, while a Marine logo with the words"In honor of Cody S. Childers" had been painted on thedriver"s side. Cody"s grandmother, Peggy Ewell, needed tissues to controlher tears of joy. "Cody would be so thrilled," she said. "I justhope he can see this. He loved that truck." The Childerses run We Care Marines, which raises money to send carepackages to deployed Marines. Wendy Childers said she will use thetruck at fundraisers. Stewart wasn"t a Marine, but he said he has friends who werekilled in Afghanistan. He said he fixed the truck both to help WeCare Marines and to honor Cody. "We wanted to preserve it in Cody"s honor for what hedid," Stewart said. "But this is nothing compared towhat he did for us." Stewart and Levins estimated that the restoration had cost $20,000– all coming from donations. They also estimated about 500hours of labor. That doesn"t include the sleepless nights Levins said heexperienced last week, worrying about minor details hemight"ve forgotten to fix. "For what his parents do for the Marines, this was ano-brainer," Levins said. "I just want to see themsmile." Wendy Childers walked closely around the truck. She admired thebrand-new look as well as the things that stayed the same, like thered and white coloring, the stickers and tires that Cody had gottenshortly before he deployed in June 2010. "No one working on this met Cody," Wendy Childers said."They"re doing it because of the sacrifice Cody made.Saying thank you to them just doesn"t seem likeenough." Mike Connors, 757-446-2536, michael.connors@pilotonline.com. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Beauty Machine Spare Parts , China E-light IPL RF for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits IPL Beauty Machine.
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