The American Warrior: A Tribute Through Service and an F-350

Helping US Veterans in Any Way Possible

In 1941, my grandfather and my uncle went off to war. US Air Force Sergeant Mal Maher was a 21-year-old tail-gunner on a B17 bomber, while 16-year-old Joseph Caplan served as cook for the US Navy. 

On the surface, some are scarred and beaten up, just like this truck. Inwardly they’re rough just like the 460 motor in this F-350. Notwithstanding its scars, this truck carries on with the heart of a warrior—an American warrior just like them.

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Maher flew 27 daylight bombing missions over Germany, deep into enemy territory. Their missions are widely considered among the most dangerous of the entire war. His crew was shot down three times, but in the words of my grandfather, “We just went back up.”

Caplan was no ordinary cook. He lied about his age and found his way onto the USS Sagittarius where he was credited with shooting down one of the first Japanese aircraft in the Pacific. I guess God made cooks different back then. (The commendation letter shown here is almost illegible, but his son Mark Caplan, our co-owner, treasures it.)

We purchased this Ford F-350 with two objectives in mind. First, to honor our company’s founders. But not just honor their service to our nation, but their service to this country in subsequent decades. They helped put countless companies into business and provided a living to hundreds of New Jersey families since the company’s inception in 1947. Along the way, they would set up companies on nothing more than a handshake. They were givers, which leads us to addressing the all-important question of what role this truck really plays in honoring any of that.

This truck represents who they were and what they always did—help whomever they could, whenever they could. We want this truck to bring awareness to current US veterans returning from service. On the surface, some are scarred and beaten up, just like this truck. Inwardly they’re rough just like the 460 motor in this F-350. Notwithstanding its scars, this truck carries on with the heart of a warrior—an American warrior just like them. Maybe our veterans can’t do all they once did, but no matter their age or condition, their heart still says that they can.

The NC family would like the honor of donating a new machine, required supplies, hands-on upholstery training, and more to help someone launch a new career.

We completed a sale of three sewing machines to Gas Monkey Garage during the coronavirus pandemic. Two years later, I found this truck on the company’s website. It literally jumped off the screen, breathing life into a seven-year dream of ours. I called Richard and bought it within 30 seconds. It helped launch Richard’s upholstery division by giving them their first interior build. There’s a ton of great stories I’d love to share about Richard. Even KC from KC’s Paint Shop had a hand in the foundation of this, but that’s for another time.

Everyone wanted us to replace the motor, repaint it, put new wheels, etc. That’s an easy fix right? But no returning soldier is an easy fix. In the end, we felt it would do them an injustice by dressing her up.

Our focus now is to use this truck to bring awareness to our country’s returning soldiers and how to help them. It’s what my Uncle Joe and my grandfather would have done. They rarely, if ever, spoke about being shot down three times, the scars we could all see, and the mental scars they internalized. I think helping others was their way of healing themselves. Hopefully today’s soldiers can learn from that and let us give back by helping them.

We want to put a returning serviceman or woman with an interest in sewing into business. The NC family would like the honor of donating a new machine, required supplies, hands-on upholstery training, and more to help someone launch a new career. We hope this article can be a blessing to veterans reading this and we hope it lends to some healing along the way.

NOTE: The NC Family is beyond honored that the F-Series Builder’s Guide asked us to write this article. What they’re expecting and what we’ve come up with could be two entirely different things. We hope that it’s well received by you, the reader, as well as the auto and military community. It’s tied directly to our family’s World War II background and to bringing awareness to today’s returning veterans. It’s impossible to do them justice, but here it goes.

NC Carpet Binding & Equipment
973-481-3500
www.n-ccarpet.com

Photo Credit: Corey Decker