Boy Loses Soldier Dad And 15 Years Later Stranger At Door Tells Mom And Son To Come Outside

Justin Rozier never got to meet his father because when he was only nine months old, his soldier dad was killed while serving in the military overseas. Army 1st Lt. Jonathan Rozier left behind his little boy and his wife, Jessica. The last time Jessica Johns spoke with her husband, she spoke to him about their little boy, giving the proud father an update. Less than 12 hours later, Jonathan was dead. He was only 25 years old when he was killed in Baghdad by an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade in 2003. After her husband’s death, Jessica had to pick up the pieces of their life in Texas and try to be as strong as she could for a little boy who no longer had a father.

Not only did the family have to learn to cope emotionally, but Jonathan’s death left the family with financial struggles as well. One of the things Jessica had to do to help her young family get by was to sell Jonathan’s beloved black 1999 Toyota Celica convertible. She couldn’t afford to keep paying the car note and because no one was driving it anyhow, it left her with no choice, reports NBC News. As it was, Jessica was having to dip into her savings to pay for it and it made no sense to her, though it hurt her to let it go. However, the reality was that Jessica had a baby and she needed the money from the sale of the car to pay for daycare while she worked.

Eventually, Jessica forgot about the car as she went on about the daily business of living life and being a mother. Then, last August, when she was looking through some papers for a birth certificate, she stumbled upon the car’s registration. She says that seeing the paperwork instantly triggered a flood of memories for her and an amazing idea. Justin was 15 years old at the time and preparing to get his driver’s license. She thought the car would be a very meaningful gift for him and would serve as a beautiful tribute to a father he never knew. She wondered if the car was still out there somewhere and she decided that if it was, she was determined to find it.

On August 11th, Jessica posted her story on Facebook and enlisted the help of social media, allowing herself a year’s time to track down Jonathan’s car in time for Justin’s 16th birthday. In the Facebook post, she asked folks on social media to “work your magic.” The hardest part was keeping all of this a secret from Justin. Fortunately, Jessica heard back from someone just a few days later.

As it turns out, the daughter of the car’s new owner messaged Jessica on Facebook and told her that although her father might not be willing to sell the car, it was worth a shot to ask him. After getting the man’s phone number, Jessica made the call, saying it took her 12 hours to work up the courage to call the man. When she explained why she wanted to buy the car, the man said he needed time to think about it.

An hour later, the man called Jessica back and said that he felt that Justin would get more enjoyment out of having his father’s car than he would, so he agreed to sell the car to Jessica. She became very excited. The next problem presented itself: raising the money to buy the car and refurbish it. Once again, she turned to social media for help.

An organization in Utah called Follow The Flag got involved and helped Jessica raise the money. The car was shipped to the family in time for Justin’s birthday. For Jessica, it was emotional because she never got to see her husband drive the car home. When Justin was told to go outside, he looked at Jessica for confirmation and she said she could see the moment he realized it was his dad’s car. Watch this amazing video below.

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