thedrifter
07-06-08, 06:00 AM
Md. man paints faces of fallen on his car
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 4, 2008 14:38:27 EDT
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An Annapolis businessman known as much by his bowtie and hat as his patriotism — he daily recites the pledge of allegiance with diners at his downtown deli — has restored an antique Buick painted with patriots’ faces.
Ted Levitt knew a greater tribute was required when two friends, Beth and Steve Sammis of Rehoboth, Mass., told him their son, Marine Capt. Ben Sammis, was killed in Iraq. As he contemplated how to make a tribute, restoring his jet black 1931 Buick seemed the most fitting way. So he repainted it red, white and blue with the faces of injured and fallen soldiers, police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel.
“These people are putting their lives on the line for our community and country,” Levitt said. “And nobody really gives them their just due. They just take it for granted.”
Levitt’s planning a tour for the car that starts in downtown Annapolis during July Fourth celebrations throughout this weekend. He’s also going to take it to the Pentagon, Walter Reed Medical Center, Times Square and the World Trade Center site.
Sammis’ face was intentionally the first of 42 faces painted on the car after the owner of Chick & Ruth’s Delly spent $40,000 in nearly 2½ years to restore the automobile inside and out, including the 350 Chevrolet engine.
Butch Sutphin, owner of S&S Auto Performance, contributed more than $1,000 in parts and a lot of time to help with getting the car running in great shape again.
“He did probably 99 percent of this thing himself,” Sutphin said. He helped Levitt with more complex problems such as resolving issues with the car’s electrical or air conditioning systems.
“I know he’s not a mechanic, but he did as well as any mechanic would do.”
Levitt had plenty of motivation, starting with the grief evident in the eyes of his friends who lost their son.
“When I asked how Ben was doing when they first walked in they burst into tears,” Levitt said of the Sammis family when they came to his restaurant to tell him the terrible story.
His motivation and understanding of a hero’s life and death only grew each time he saw another face or heard another story.
That’s something the Sammis’ family wants to see happening in the hearts and minds of Americans as the car tours the country.
“To many civilians, it may strike them as uncommon valor, but for these Marines and soldiers, men and women it was just a common virtue, it was innate in their person,” said Sammis, who carries a picture of his son standing beside a Cobra attack helicopter everywhere he goes. “The vast majority of Americans fail to realize that.”
When Levitt first saw Capt. D.J. Skelton — who was seriously injured by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq — “I didn’t even recognize him,” Levitt said.
Skelton’s left eye was stitched shut — he looked like he was winking — until the wound healed.
Levitt didn’t choose the faces at random; except for a group of firefighters who died together on Sept. 11, 2001, he knows every person depicted on his car.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 4, 2008 14:38:27 EDT
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An Annapolis businessman known as much by his bowtie and hat as his patriotism — he daily recites the pledge of allegiance with diners at his downtown deli — has restored an antique Buick painted with patriots’ faces.
Ted Levitt knew a greater tribute was required when two friends, Beth and Steve Sammis of Rehoboth, Mass., told him their son, Marine Capt. Ben Sammis, was killed in Iraq. As he contemplated how to make a tribute, restoring his jet black 1931 Buick seemed the most fitting way. So he repainted it red, white and blue with the faces of injured and fallen soldiers, police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel.
“These people are putting their lives on the line for our community and country,” Levitt said. “And nobody really gives them their just due. They just take it for granted.”
Levitt’s planning a tour for the car that starts in downtown Annapolis during July Fourth celebrations throughout this weekend. He’s also going to take it to the Pentagon, Walter Reed Medical Center, Times Square and the World Trade Center site.
Sammis’ face was intentionally the first of 42 faces painted on the car after the owner of Chick & Ruth’s Delly spent $40,000 in nearly 2½ years to restore the automobile inside and out, including the 350 Chevrolet engine.
Butch Sutphin, owner of S&S Auto Performance, contributed more than $1,000 in parts and a lot of time to help with getting the car running in great shape again.
“He did probably 99 percent of this thing himself,” Sutphin said. He helped Levitt with more complex problems such as resolving issues with the car’s electrical or air conditioning systems.
“I know he’s not a mechanic, but he did as well as any mechanic would do.”
Levitt had plenty of motivation, starting with the grief evident in the eyes of his friends who lost their son.
“When I asked how Ben was doing when they first walked in they burst into tears,” Levitt said of the Sammis family when they came to his restaurant to tell him the terrible story.
His motivation and understanding of a hero’s life and death only grew each time he saw another face or heard another story.
That’s something the Sammis’ family wants to see happening in the hearts and minds of Americans as the car tours the country.
“To many civilians, it may strike them as uncommon valor, but for these Marines and soldiers, men and women it was just a common virtue, it was innate in their person,” said Sammis, who carries a picture of his son standing beside a Cobra attack helicopter everywhere he goes. “The vast majority of Americans fail to realize that.”
When Levitt first saw Capt. D.J. Skelton — who was seriously injured by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq — “I didn’t even recognize him,” Levitt said.
Skelton’s left eye was stitched shut — he looked like he was winking — until the wound healed.
Levitt didn’t choose the faces at random; except for a group of firefighters who died together on Sept. 11, 2001, he knows every person depicted on his car.
Ellie