Operation Rally Point, FOX 5 viewers help veteran get car back
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - An incredibly happy ending to a story we first posted Tuesday of a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran whose stolen car was left in an impound lot facing hundreds of dollar in fees after police found it.
“There’s no words that you can say after being rescued,” said Brewster Bowen.
Bowen has had a tough few weeks. Bowen's black Honda was stolen from the parking lot of his apartment on Favor Road. The good news is the Cobb County police determined it was recovered the same day in good shape in Atlanta.
“I came down when I found out the car was here,” said Bowen told FOX 5’s Portia Bruner at the impound lot.
The bad news is it was going to cost $175 to get it out of the impound. Storage and other daily fees quickly raised that amount to more than $600 by the time the story was first posted.
“It goes up $30 every day,” Bowen said.
Bowen said he reached out to his insurance.
“Well, your coverage doesn’t cover that,” Bowen said.
He then turned to the V.A., which referred him to Operation Rally Point, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of veterans in need. CEO Brandon Watts reached out to the impound to help.
"Once I informed them that this involved a formerly homeless veteran who is barely getting by paycheck-to-paycheck, they agreed to waive some of the storage fees and get the fee down from $650 down to $250, so that's great. We will do what we can to pull together the rest," said Watts, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq.
Watts and two FOX 5 viewers met Bowen at the impound lot Wednesday afternoon to finally get his car back.
“It’s beyond a blessing. It’s like a godsend, sent from heaven,” Bowen said. “Now, I can wait around a little bit. I can make some breakfast or something. Drink some tea.”
“First of all, he gave his life for us. To fight for his country,” a woman, who helps Bowen, but didn’t want to be identified for this story spoke with FOX 5’s Portia Bruner.
In recent years, Bowen lost his job, his wife and his home--which left him living on the streets of metro Atlanta for three years.
"I was homeless and living out of my car, but the V.A. got me into a program so that I could get this apartment," Bowen told FOX 5's Portia Bruner Tuesday.
Bowen, a Vietnam Veteran, said this is one of the nicest things which has ever happened to him. He explained when he came back from the war, he was not greeted as a hero, but this more than made up for it.
“If you have a heart, you might reach out to someone else,” the woman said, explaining why she wanted to reach out to help. “I like to give,” she said.
As for Watts and Operation Rally Point, Bowen has a strong opinion.
“I asked him ‘can I join?’” he said.
Anyone who would like to learn more about Operation Rally Point can visit oprallypoint.org.
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