On October 13th, 2010, nineteen year old Marine Lance Corporal Phillip Vinnedge gave his life defending our freedom.  He will be missed by all that knew him, but never forgotten.

Phillip was deployed with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment to Sangin Afghanistan.  On October 13, 2010 Phillip was driving the lead vehicle, an MATV, on a security patrol.  Also in the vehicle were; Lcpl Victor Dew, Lcpl Joe Rodewald and Cpl Justin Cain.  While crossing the Sangin Wadi (dry riverbed) a very large IED was remote detonated, killing all 4 instantly.  The MATV was thought to be resistant to these types of explosives and due to this incident their use has now been limited. 

During their 7 month deployment, 3/5 Marines had 25 men killed in action, hundreds of casualties including many amputees.  The 25 that gave their tomorrows for our todays were; 

  10/08/2010  Lance Cpl. John Sparks, 23, of Chicago, IL

  10/13/2010 Cpl. Justin Cain, 22, of Manitowoc, WI

  10/13/2010 Lance Cpl Phillip Vinnedge, 19, of St. Charles, MO

  10/13/2010 Lance Cpl Joseph Rodewald, 21, of Albany, OR 

  10/13/2010 Lance Cpl  Victor Dew, 20, of Granite Bay, CA

  10/14/2010 Lance Cpl Alec Catherwood, 19, of Byron, IL

  10/14/2010 Lance Cpl Irvin Ceniceros, 21, of Clarksville, AR

  10/14/2010 Lance Cpl Joseph Lopez, 26, of Byron, IL

  10/15/2010 Lance Cpl James Boelk, 24, of Oceanside, CA

  10/16/2010 Sgt Ian Tawney, 25,of Dallas, OR

  11/04/2010 Lance Cpl Matthew J. Broehm, 22, of Flagstaff, AZ

  11/04/2010 Lance Cpl Brandon W. Pearson, 21, of Arvada, CO

  11/06/2010 Lance Cpl Randy R. Braggs, 21, of Sierra Vista, AZ

  11/09/2010 2nd Lt Robert M. Kelly, 29 of Tallahassee, FL

  11/10/2010 Lance Cpl James B. Stack, 20, of Arlington Heights, IL

  11/24/2010 Lance Cpl Ardenjoseph A. Buenagua, 19, San Jose, CA

  11/25/2010 1st Lt William J. Donnelly IV, 27, of Picayune, MS

  12/02/2010 Sgt Matthew T. Abbate, 26, of Honolulu, HI (Fresno, CA)

  12/06/2010 Pfc Colton W. Rusk, 20, of Orange Grove, TX

  12/06/2010 Cpl Derek A. Wyatt, 25, of Akron, OH

  12/07/2010 Sgt Jason D. Peto, 31, of Vancouver, WA

  12/17/2010 Lance Cpl Jose L. Maldonado, 21, of Mathis, TX

  12/24/2010 Lance Cpl Kenneth A. Corzine, 23, of Bethalto, IL

  12/28/2010 Cpl Tevan L. Nguyen, 21, of Hutto, TX

  01/20/2011 Sgt Jason G. Amores, 29, of Lehigh Acres, FL

May these heroes never be forgotten for their sacrifice.

THE PROJECT

For years Phillip had talked of getting a classic Chevy truck.  Prior to his deployment to Afghanistan he vowed to find and  restore one when he returned home.  Phillip was not able to fulfill that dream, however in the days following Phillip’s passing the decision was made to fulfill that dream for him by restoring a 1951 Chevy pickup in his, and all fallen heroes honor.  Once completed it will wear a Fallen Heroes themed paint job and be used for parades, car shows and various events to raise awareness of those that “gave all”, and to support military charities such as the Marine’s Toys for Tots and Snowball Express.

The project begins with a 1951 Chevrolet 3100 pickup with 28,000 original miles.  It is as rust free as can be expected for a 60 year old truck.  It includes the original  “Stovebolt” 216, 6 cylinder engine in running condition.

The plan is to do a complete ground-up restoration keeping the truck in near original condition.

This project to honor our fallen heroes would not be possible without the support of the restoration community.  All donations (parts, services, discounts, etc.) to the project will be proudly and prominently displayed on the website as well as on a plaque that will accompany the vehicle to events.  This website will also be updated with a listing of parts and services that are in need.

 NEVER FORGET!

The background music on this page is by Johnny Bulford. We want to thank Johnny for his wonderful tribute; "Remember The Brave".  You can add Johnny's touching Remembering the Brave song straight to your playlist from Amazon.com  One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to support the mission of the Remembering the Brave Foundation.  All of his music can be purchased from his website, www.johnnybulford.com  
Controls for the music player can be found at the top right of this page.

_{Fallen Hero's Dream Ride is endorsed by many individuals, corporations and marines, but has no official affiliation with the U.S. Marines, Toy's For Tots, or any other organization, except as indicated on the Endorsements page.}