PLANO — American soldiers fighting the war in Afghanistan say a toy truck saved the lives of six men.
The remote-controlled monster truck detonated a powerful roadside bomb, just before the soldiers were set to travel down the same road. The Plano company that makes the R/C trucks is beaming with pride.
The truck sent to Afghanistan was a Stampede. It’s built by Plano-based Traxxas.
Ernie Fessenden bought the truck at a Minnesota hobby shop and rigged it with a wireless video camera. He then sent it to his brother Chris, who's serving in the Army. Then last week he got an message.
“I got an e-mail from him that said, ‘Hey man, I'm sorry, but the truck's gone," said Fessenden.
Staff Sgt. Chris Fesseden loaned the truck to his buddies, who were on a mission to find bombs. Six soldiers controlled the truck from their Humvee. They sent it down the road, just ahead of them.
“It tripped a wire and exploded over 500 pounds of explosives, saving six soldiers' lives," said Damron Atkins, Traxxas’ Marketing Manager.
The incredible story of how a truck built for entertainment managed to save the lives of American soldiers left Traxxas employees feeling patriotic — for country and company.
"I was just excited and very proud to be an American at that point, knowing that the products we put out for people to have fun with saved American lives," Atkins said.
U.S. troops have had a long relationship with the rugged Traxxas trucks. Earlier this year, company owner Mike Jenkins set up R/C tracks at military bases in Iraq, providing entertainment and boosting troop morale.
But it hasn't all been about fun and games.
Ten years ago, when the military's top brass needed a quick answer to Iraqi insurgents' home-made bombs, Traxxas offered their trucks as a solution.
“One solution that was developed was to use a Traxxas E-Maxx, place about four sticks of C-4 explosives on it, and drive that into the suspicious item and just blow it up," said Traxxas Director of Marketing Kent Poteet.
Efforts are under way to send more Traxxas trucks to the troops. The soldier's brother in Minnesota says while he knew it would help, he never dreamed it would save six lives in one day.
E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com
