The inspiration that led Dale Ison in building the Heroes truck came from many different sources, such as our troops, 9/11 and fallen heroes. But Mr. Ison’s first inspiration came from his dad.
“My dad always urged me to follow my dreams,” explained Mr. Ison. “We were a very poor family growing up. My dad wasn’t stingy, but he was very conservative. The money I’ve spent on these trucks is a cool $950,000. But dad never once said ‘Dale, where did I lose you at son?’ or ‘Have you gone crazy spending all of this money?’ He always supported me in following my dreams, and look what happened, my dream came true. My dad passed away in 2005. My one regret is that dad didn’t get to see the truck completely finished. I told my mom that I wish dad could have gone to one show and been able to see these troops coming up to me in tears and shaking my hand, saying, ‘God bless you Dale.’ She said, ‘Dale, he’s seeing it from Heaven.’ I feel that too.”
Mr. Ison decided to pass on his dad’s advice about following your dreams by writing a book. “I wrote a 70-page short story titled ‘Follow Your Dreams.’ I wrote it hoping to inspire young America to follow their dreams,” said Mr. Ison. “A lot of kids give up on their dreams too quickly. They simply say, ‘I can’t do that.’ No matter what other people tell you, never say never. Always put 100% of your heart and soul into whatever it is you are doing, and your dream can come true. If I had said, ‘I can’t do that’ when I was young, I wouldn’t be where I am today, actually living my dream.”
Although Mr. Ison is living his dream, it doesn’t mean that he has stopped dreaming. Mr. Ison’s next goal is to take the Heroes truck to Iraq. “I’ve had a commander of a C5 cargo plane offer me a trip over there if I can get it cleared. I’ve been trying for a year now,” said Mr. Ison. “I won’t lie. I’m scared to go, but when I went to the Pentagon back in May and met so many troops in person, I knew I wanted to go for them. I’m not volunteering to die, but if I did, so be it. I couldn’t think of a better place to die than amongst the heroes who have given and risked their lives for me to be here, free today. It would just be so awesome to be able to take this truck to the desert for the troops to see.”
Mr. Ison assured me that once the World of Wheels opened and the spectators started pouring in, I would see people moved to tears. Indeed, he was right. I watched as this truck literally drew people in. No one could pass it by without it pulling some kind of emotion out of them. There was also a crowd around Mr. Ison, listening as he told them the same stories he had told me the day before. Even though Mr. Ison must have told these stories of his experiences with the truck and the spectators more times than I can count, he still told them with enthusiasm and heart-felt emotion, just as if he was telling them for the first time. Many people were moved to tears, as was Mr. Ison.
“I’ve been on tour since 2004, and I’ll stay on tour ‘til the day I die,” said Mr. Ison. “The military, firemen, policemen and nurses are all on America’s team. They don’t ask for anything and are all so humble. I’m not a speaker, but they deserve to have their stories told. I’m just sending it on down the line. There are not enough words in a dictionary to describe what I feel in my heart from these troops and everyday spectators. I wish I could do more for them.”
Even though Mr. Ison has already done more than most by spending his life savings in a noble effort to pay tribute to all the heroes, he still wants to do more for them. “Some might say that I’m never satisfied,” said Mr. Ison. “I say I just never stop dreaming. When you stop dreaming, you die inside.”
…story and photos by: Shannon Hammett
