Monday, June 27, 2005

Gone in Sixty Seconds/Found in 48 hours

Day before yesterday I go the call. A truck had been stolen. It was of course parked and left unlocked. We know that there is no way that this vehicle could leave the immediate area yet some one had been brave enough to take it from the unit. After the first day missing I began to question whether it would ever be seen again. It seems that the norm in the past was for a soldier to move the vehicle out of sight to teach a lesson but after several hours the soldier would find it or someone would clue him in on what happened to it. Not this time it was gone. Tapes of gate cameras were reviewed and the confirmation that it was stolen made its way back to me. I began my research and prepare for the good bit of paperwork involved in processing a loss of this magnitude. THe total cost was some 37 thousand dollars. The driver of the vehicle could be held accountable for this because it was unlocked.

This morning I went on a supply run. IT was not a scheduled run but I had some paperwork to re-submit at the supply point.(they Lost the originals) As we prepared to leave I told the driver to go straight ahead. I want to check vehicles to see if perhaps I could have any luck turning it up. We checked several on either side of the road but to no avail. As we approached the end of the road and the stop sign I saw it. My first thought was that no doubt that was "My" truck. It was sitting in a parking lot (dirt lot) all by itself. It just looked out of place. As we approached it my wishes came true this was it. I had found the missing truck and hopefully lifted the "bruise" inflicted on the unit by a careless soldier, not to mention saved myself an ocean of paperwork. Today was a good day. Thank you Jesus.

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