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Toy Truck Saves Soldiers From IED

krome2ez
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krome2ez Newbie

krome2ez

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Toy Truck Saves Soldiers From IED

August 05, 2011

UPI

A U.S. Army sergeant says a radio-controlled toy truck given to him by his brother saved the lives of six fellow Soldiers in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden said he's been using the tiny truck, equipped with a miniature video camera, to run ahead on patrol and look for roadside bombs, ABC News reported Thursday.

Fessenden said he's has had the truck since 2007, when his brother Ernie, a software engineer in Rochester, Minn., and Kevin Guy, the owner of the Everything Hobby shop in Rochester, rigged it with a wireless video camera and shipped it to him.

Last week, he said, it paid off when he loaned the truck to a group of Soldiers who used it to check the road ahead on a patrol.

The tiny truck hit a trip wire and set off an estimated 500 pounds of explosives. The six Soldiers, controlling the toy in their following Humvee, escaped injury.

Fessenden said the little truck had successfully located four IEDs since he first got it.

"Is it a toy?" he wrote in an e-mail to his brother. "Yeah it is ... is it fun? ... absolutely ... but the guys here take the truck very seriously when out on [a] mission."

His brother and hobby shop owner Kevin Guy said they're trying to send Chris a new truck.

"That's just unreal," said Guy when he learned of the recent incident. "That's six mothers that six guys are going home to."

http://www.military.com/news/article/toy-truck-saves-soldiers-from-ied.html?ESRC=eb.nl

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Nelg Newbie

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That's brilliant!!! And the military couldn't think of this on their own!?....It is a GREAT IDEA!!

Hey, don't tell the government! Those little trucks will cost us 500,000 a piece if they start getting them to the troops.:D Sorry, didn't mean to be negative about the cost.:blink:

Just think what could be done if they had 10,000 of those babies running all over the country side. It would save lives during operations in war zones, then when the troops leave they could be given to the children.

Great story!

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Darin Newbie

Darin

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Those little monster trucks might be more expensive than you think... but if they save lives, I'm in!

Maybe true, but, if they even prevent one death, they are totally worth it in my opinion.

I am thinking of the R/C Nitro Cars/Trucks

Their roughly $200-300.... Than just create a camera attachment that can be viewed from the remote.

I think the camera portion would be the more costly part of the unit. I am sure they would wish for the camera to be able to zoom-in/out, and turn left to right and up/down.

I recently watched a movie regarding the marines in that area. It was rather recent... The movie was about an IED expert who defuses them. Talk about guts....

Considering that many of them may be detonated by remote... In the beginning of the movie, you see that they were using a remote control robotic unit that pulled a trailer. The trailer broke and a guy had to go in to do it by hand... The proximity of the explosives puts you in a kill-zone for quite a size-able distance.

I can see why they are such a threat... They're normally hidden in car trunks or buried under ground.

Hey, don't tell the government! Those little trucks will cost us 500,000 a piece if they start getting them to the troops.:D Sorry, didn't mean to be negative about the cost.:blink:

Just think what could be done if they had 10,000 of those babies running all over the country side. It would save lives during operations in war zones, then when the troops leave they could be given to the children.

Great story!

Lets say all-decked out, they are about $1,000 each. The majority of the cost being the camera unit installed onto the r/c unit. I could really not see any need for more than 50 over there. (Remember, less than 50k troops.) After maybe 10-20 break down because they successfully detonate an IED, import another 10-20 units.

And a great idea you had... When the troops leave, remove the cameras and give the cars away to the kids. Fun little toys to such a young generation that'll leave them thinking we left on a good note.

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RodandStaff Rookie

RodandStaff

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Those little monster trucks might be more expensive than you think... but if they save lives, I'm in!

Considering that body armor alone for one soldier is over $1000.00 and does nothing to stop 500 lbs. of explosives... the toy truck is cheap by almost anyone's standards ... imo!

Awesome story, thanks for posting. smile.gif

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mrref Newbie

mrref

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Toy Truck Saves Soldiers From IED

August 05, 2011

UPI

A U.S. Army sergeant says a radio-controlled toy truck given to him by his brother saved the lives of six fellow Soldiers in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden said he's been using the tiny truck, equipped with a miniature video camera, to run ahead on patrol and look for roadside bombs, ABC News reported Thursday.

Fessenden said he's has had the truck since 2007, when his brother Ernie, a software engineer in Rochester, Minn., and Kevin Guy, the owner of the Everything Hobby shop in Rochester, rigged it with a wireless video camera and shipped it to him.

Last week, he said, it paid off when he loaned the truck to a group of Soldiers who used it to check the road ahead on a patrol.

The tiny truck hit a trip wire and set off an estimated 500 pounds of explosives. The six Soldiers, controlling the toy in their following Humvee, escaped injury.

Fessenden said the little truck had successfully located four IEDs since he first got it.

"Is it a toy?" he wrote in an e-mail to his brother. "Yeah it is ... is it fun? ... absolutely ... but the guys here take the truck very seriously when out on [a] mission."

His brother and hobby shop owner Kevin Guy said they're trying to send Chris a new truck.

"That's just unreal," said Guy when he learned of the recent incident. "That's six mothers that six guys are going home to."

http://www.military.com/news/article/toy-truck-saves-soldiers-from-ied.html?ESRC=eb.nl

SEE HOW EASY THAT WAS, WHERE IN THE HECK IS THE USA GOVERNMENT SURELY THEY COULD COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT SIMPLE, JUST THINK OF ALL THE LIVES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED WITH A TOY TRUCK...

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Francie26 Newbie

Francie26

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Americans!! We have such ingenuity!! Make do with what we have or create the solution ourselves--that's always been the American answer, the American way!! That's just how we do things. And I'm glad to hear that some kids will be coming home because of it.

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Adam Montana Proficient

Adam Montana

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If we can get the machine, software, shipping, etc together - I would happily donate to something like this! But let's be realistic about the cost:

An RC Truck that will be reliable on the roads and at the speeds we are talking about will run at least $400 or more. The wireless camera will be more as well - how will it transmit video? How far should that video be transmitted?

To have a reliable RC Truck that will travel 35mph on dirt roads, equipped with a camera that will transmit video in a decent resolution wirelessly further than 30-50 feet will easily top $1000.

Add overseas shipping on top of that, and let's also figure out who deserves to get the first truck - why, how, and when.

Let me know if you are serious, I will be happy to get involved here! :twothumbs:

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ngodstust2 Newbie

ngodstust2

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If we can get the machine, software, shipping, etc together - I would happily donate to something like this! But let's be realistic about the cost:

An RC Truck that will be reliable on the roads and at the speeds we are talking about will run at least $400 or more. The wireless camera will be more as well - how will it transmit video? How far should that video be transmitted?

To have a reliable RC Truck that will travel 35mph on dirt roads, equipped with a camera that will transmit video in a decent resolution wirelessly further than 30-50 feet will easily top $1000.

Add overseas shipping on top of that, and let's also figure out who deserves to get the first truck - why, how, and when.

Let me know if you are serious, I will be happy to get involved here! :twothumbs:

Adam I am very serious for reasons that I care not to explain on this forum.

You cannot place a price on a LIFE, you cannot place a price on the memories that you had and those that would be created if your loved one was alive.

How do you place a price on loosing a ARM or LEG or not being able to see ??

So my real question to those reading this is, if your brother, sister, cousin, father, mother, nephew went through this everyday wouldn't you want to help them?

We are going to be WEALTHY lets help those that protect us. they deserve it!

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wpsmit Newbie

wpsmit

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If we can get the machine, software, shipping, etc together - I would happily donate to something like this! But let's be realistic about the cost:

An RC Truck that will be reliable on the roads and at the speeds we are talking about will run at least $400 or more. The wireless camera will be more as well - how will it transmit video? How far should that video be transmitted?

To have a reliable RC Truck that will travel 35mph on dirt roads, equipped with a camera that will transmit video in a decent resolution wirelessly further than 30-50 feet will easily top $1000.

Add overseas shipping on top of that, and let's also figure out who deserves to get the first truck - why, how, and when.

Let me know if you are serious, I will be happy to get involved here! :twothumbs:

They need to patent it and then if it costs $1000 to manufacture and ship our good ole government will probably pay $25,000 - $50,000 for each one and the inventors won't need any Dinar. They will also be able to take pride in helping eliminate many deaths on the roads and battlefields.

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Adam Montana Proficient

Adam Montana

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Adam I am very serious for reasons that I care not to explain on this forum.

You cannot place a price on a LIFE, you cannot place a price on the memories that you had and those that would be created if your loved one was alive.

How do you place a price on loosing a ARM or LEG or not being able to see ??

So my real question to those reading this is, if your brother, sister, cousin, father, mother, nephew went through this everyday wouldn't you want to help them?

We are going to be WEALTHY lets help those that protect us. they deserve it!

I am glad to hear you are serious. I agree with everything you said!

Now, if you want to organize something that will help them, please do so.

Let me know how I can help - I will happily take ACTION for this most worthy cause.

I am at your service. :tiphat:

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