Lee Brice Surprises Military Wife With Late Husband’s Truck
Lee Brice's song "I Drive Your Truck" holds deep meaning for Ginger Gurley Gilbert Ravella. When she first heard the song, she thought of her late husband Troy Gilbert, an F-16 pilot killed in action on Nov. 27, 2006, and longed for his old truck.
At Saturday's ACM Party for a Cause Festival in Las Vegas, Brice surprised Ravella and her family with the truck her husband traded in before shipping out to Iraq 10 years ago.
"Troy traded in his old beloved truck for a new one about a month before he found out he was deploying," his late wife recalls. "Things were starting to break on his old one and he needed a reliable ride. Just a week before he took off for Iraq he said, 'I think we need to sell my new truck. We really can't afford to make payments while I am gone.' So we sold it and he left."
The family sold the new truck to save money, and Ginger admits it was Brice's song that made her remember her late husband's old truck, wishing she could find it.
"Years later, when Lee's song came out, it wasn't the new truck I wished we still had," she adds. "It was the old one, the one that belonged to Troy's dad first, the one Troy drove for years, the one I knew our sons, Boston and Greyson, would get a kick out of."
Moved by the story, Brice, his management team and several friends of the Ravella family searched for the 1992 Chevy Silverado 1500 that formerly belonged to Troy. Brice found the truck, purchased it, shipped it to Las Vegas and presented it to the family.
During Saturday's event the singer also presented a $40,000 donation to Folds of Honor, a non-profit that provides educational support to spouses and children of America's fallen and wounded soldiers. After singing "I Drive Your Truck," Brice gave the family the keys to the old truck.
"I'm so happy that we were able to locate this truck because it meant so much to Ginger and her family," Brice explains in a press release. "Troy paid the ultimate price in service to our country and I'm grateful we got to show our appreciation in a small way, comparatively, this weekend."
Artists Who Served in the Military
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