A little ways back when I was diving into the subject of haunted military aircraft,

I was once again reminded of the unique relationship that soldiers, sailors, airmen,

Marines, Coast Guardsmen have with their vehicles.

I myself was a Radio Recon Marine most of my career before going to Marsok as a Soxif Signals

intelligence specialist, so I was probably never on the same vehicle twice. They just

taxied us everywhere. So while I can't empathize with being attached to a military vehicle,

there is a car I've had for a very long time that I just can't bring myself to get rid of. I've been driving

it since just after high school, a 1999 Mitsubishi eclipse, a dying icon of the late 90s and

early 2000s. I drove that car my whole Marine Corps career, even shipped it across the ocean a couple

times. When I was deployed overseas for more than a year,

the mice and ants got in it, plants grew up through the wheels and engine compartment,

and the sun and rain destroyed the paint.

I spent thousands repainting it and restoring it.

I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into that thing.

And now 15 years later it's becoming harder to maintain it, and it's still just a money

pit.

It needs a transmission overhaul.

It would cost more to fix it than I could hope to sell it for.

My wife says I should just give it away, but she doesn't understand.

That car, it's special.

Like, it has a soul. It rips my heart out to think about getting rid of it all that

being said maybe that's how some guys feel about their military stuff like how in the old cavalry

...