Clearfield community pitches in to restore deployed airman's wrecked car


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CLEARFIELD — It was a quiet day in Afghanistan when Airman 1st Class Jacob Lang received a message from home that his car had been totaled.

The 21-year-old airman from Clearfield had left on his first deployment at the end of October 2015. He had been deployed for two months and wasn't sure what to do about his wrecked car.

That's when the community of Clearfield stepped in.

On Thursday, after more than 100 hours of labor and more than $7,000 of repairs, Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd presented the car to Lang, now fully restored and repaired.

"Coming home from deployment is a major adjustment. The last thing you want to do is have more worries," Shepherd said. "I'm thrilled we have a company in Clearfield that is that dedicated to our airmen."

The silver Mazda 3 was repaired by technicians at the Clearfield site of ABRA Auto Body & Glass. All of the cost was covered by more than $10,000 in donations from other Clearfield businesses in the community, including Discount Tire, LKQ Corp., PPG Paints and Les Schwab Tire Center.

"I didn't think anything was going to happen," Lang said with a grin. "I thought I was just going to leave it and scrap the car."

Lang said he knew about the restoration of the car after he returned home in May.

"It was hard coming back and knowing I didn't have the car," he said. "Knowing the car was getting fixed period, that was awesome."

Airman 1st Class Jacob Lang, left, is greeted by Jordon Andersen, who repaired his car, at ABRA Auto Body & Glass in Clearfield on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News)
Airman 1st Class Jacob Lang, left, is greeted by Jordon Andersen, who repaired his car, at ABRA Auto Body & Glass in Clearfield on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News)

The wrecked car was presented to ABRA by Yohauna Kunze, whose husband serves with Lang at Hill Air Force Base. She had heard about the car crash and wanted to do something to help.

"I heard he was stressing about it," she said.

She asked Lang if he wanted to repair his car or find a replacement. Lang told her he had fallen in love with his car and wanted it repaired if possible.

Kunze said when she called ABRA to ask if they would help repair the car, the company told her they were excited and willing to help.

"They pulled the community together and got everybody working on it," Kunze said.

Most of the repairs were done by lead collision technician Jordon Andersen, who has worked as a mechanic for more than 26 years.

"In all reality, the damages to it were in excess of the value of the car," Andersen said. "It would've been considered a total loss."

He said he and his team worked on the car for several weeks, finding time between other jobs. Even so, Andersen said he enjoyed working on the project.

"The military provides a service we can't match," he said. "To be able to do something to thank them in a better way than just saying 'thank you' was an honor." Email: astilson@deseretnews.com

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