Remote Control Toy Truck Saves Soldiers From IED Explosion in Afghanistan

The MSNBC post by Today.com contributor Scott Stump "He saved six soldiers’ lives — with a child’s toy" is an amazing story of a man using a "souped up" toy to help bring his deployed brother home safely.

Ernie Fessenden and hobby store owner Kevin Guy created the remote control IED-scouting toy truck from a Traxxis Stampede for Ernie's brother, Staff Sgt. Chris Fessenden.

Stump explains:

Chris had lent the model truck to a group of fellow soldiers who were going out on a patrol. They used the toy, which can go up to 30 miles per hour, to scout the area ahead of them for potential IEDs.

When the toy truck zipped out in front of the soldiers’ armored Humvee, it became enmeshed in a trip wire on the road that triggered what was estimated to be 500 pounds of explosives. The bomb exploded, but none of the soldiers was hurt.

Had they not sent the remote-control truck scooting up ahead of them, the soldiers might have approached the IED on foot — or driven the Humvee into the trip wire.

Before you read the amazing story of how Ernie and Kevin came up with the idea, donate to the new project http://truckstotroops.com/ to send more remote control IED-scouting toy trucks to deployed troops. I just donated.

(I'm additionally interested in this innovative idea because, in my new eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS, Mollie goes to Afghanistan for an up-close-and-personal look at the problem of detecting IEDs.)

Now read the incredible story of what two men did with a toy truck, ingenuity and determination.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which works with clients to attract more business. Read her posts at the company's social media marketing blog.