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DECATUR, MI. – Drag racing sponsor icon and Torco Race Fuels founder Evan Knoll presented the Vietnam Veterans with a tribute during the 2007 season. An appreciative veteran has returned the favor.
Denny Fenstemaker of Valdosta, Ga., fought back the tears as he opened a tattered blue gift box. Inside the box was his Vietnam Service Medal. He presented the medal to Knoll as a taken of appreciation for Knoll’s generosity.
“This means a lot to Vietnam veterans,” said Fenstemaker. “This provides not only a homecoming for us but one for our 58,000 brothers who didn’t make it back. I just feel that he is one of us for doing this. The feeling that has gone into this and the feeling the veterans get out of it … by just looking at it, gets to you. It’s like seeing the rolling Vietnam Veterans wall for the first time. It makes that much of an impact.
“Somebody that might not understand what it is like, it might be hard to explain. I have a sticker of the POW-MIA emblem on the back of my car that says, ‘For those who fought for freedom as a favor the protected will never know.’
“That’s the same way I feel about this car. It is tough for veterans when they came back to the situation we had here to have someone of his stature do this and to take the car all over the country … to veterans all over … to see this … it is awesome. There’s no way of describing it.”
Knoll was at a loss for words with Fenstemaker’s presentation.
“I can tell you that saying ‘thank you’ seems like such a small measure of showing appreciation,” Knoll said. “This comes as a total surprise and an honor that is nothing short of incredible. It’s guys like Denny that make this project larger than we can ever imagine.”
“It’s a wall that thunders and is powered by 58,000 of our brothers that didn’t make it back,” Fenstemaker said. “For those of us that are still here, we can remember our buddies who were car guys back then that didn’t make it back.”
Fenstemaker recently completed a front engine dragster restoration for the upcoming NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion. The car takes part in various nostalgia drags as a combination cacklefest and showcar. He used money attained from an Agent Orange injury settlement from the war to fund the project.
“I restored the car for two reasons,” Fenstemaker said. “One is to pay back that guys who gave me neat memories when I grew up. The other is to have a car from 1970, the same year I returned from Vietnam. I’m able to live a dream. We don’t race it, but we use it to memorialize others.
“I’m living my dream and one for those that didn’t make it.”
Photo courtesy of Roger Richards, Torco's CompetitionPlus.com
VIETNAM VETERAN PRESENTS EVAN KNOLL WITH SERVICE MEDAL
DECATUR, MI. – Drag racing sponsor icon and Torco Race Fuels founder Evan Knoll presented the Vietnam Veterans with a tribute during the 2007 season. An appreciative veteran has returned the favor.
Denny Fenstemaker of Valdosta, Ga., fought back the tears as he opened a tattered blue gift box. Inside the box was his Vietnam Service Medal. He presented the medal to Knoll as a taken of appreciation for Knoll’s generosity.
“This means a lot to Vietnam veterans,” said Fenstemaker. “This provides not only a homecoming for us but one for our 58,000 brothers who didn’t make it back. I just feel that he is one of us for doing this. The feeling that has gone into this and the feeling the veterans get out of it … by just looking at it, gets to you. It’s like seeing the rolling Vietnam Veterans wall for the first time. It makes that much of an impact.
“Somebody that might not understand what it is like, it might be hard to explain. I have a sticker of the POW-MIA emblem on the back of my car that says, ‘For those who fought for freedom as a favor the protected will never know.’
“That’s the same way I feel about this car. It is tough for veterans when they came back to the situation we had here to have someone of his stature do this and to take the car all over the country … to veterans all over … to see this … it is awesome. There’s no way of describing it.”
Knoll was at a loss for words with Fenstemaker’s presentation.
“I can tell you that saying ‘thank you’ seems like such a small measure of showing appreciation,” Knoll said. “This comes as a total surprise and an honor that is nothing short of incredible. It’s guys like Denny that make this project larger than we can ever imagine.”
“It’s a wall that thunders and is powered by 58,000 of our brothers that didn’t make it back,” Fenstemaker said. “For those of us that are still here, we can remember our buddies who were car guys back then that didn’t make it back.”
Fenstemaker recently completed a front engine dragster restoration for the upcoming NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion. The car takes part in various nostalgia drags as a combination cacklefest and showcar. He used money attained from an Agent Orange injury settlement from the war to fund the project.
“I restored the car for two reasons,” Fenstemaker said. “One is to pay back that guys who gave me neat memories when I grew up. The other is to have a car from 1970, the same year I returned from Vietnam. I’m able to live a dream. We don’t race it, but we use it to memorialize others.
“I’m living my dream and one for those that didn’t make it.”
Photo courtesy of Roger Richards, Torco's CompetitionPlus.com
