The Lehman APC

I didn't start driving until I was 18. I don't typically like driving; when someone else could do it then it's for the best. At times, I'm not the safest driver. Other times, I intentionally make mistakes to make my passengers think I'm not a safe driver.

Anyway, in high school, in order to do stuff, we needed a driver to get to places. In my sphere, we had two drivers: Hai, twin brother of my then best friend, and Lehman, an overall good egg. Hai drove the Twinmobile. Lehman, however, manned the APC.

Lehman was not the safest driver, either. I've personally been involved in 3 motor vehicle incidents with him at the wheel.

Lehman, when he could drive, would always seem willing to do so. This was handy when we needed a lift to the pool hall or to the movies. Lehman would get us places and we'd have a good time doing things friends do.

Lehman would drive us in an old Chevy Astro van. This van was a formidable opponent. It was a bit run down, but we were interested in a vehicle that'd get us to the place in two or fewer pieces. That's not to say that the Chevy Astro van was a deathtrap. When there was vehicular damage, its occupants would emerge unscathed. The same could not be said of the van. But it held together. Thus it earned the moniker of the Armored Personnel Carrier.

It was a mighty fine APC. It survived its many missions with limited casualities. It earned the Silver Star of Santo and the Distinguished Vehicle Wrench. It was eventually decomissioned and while efforts were made to preserve it as a museum, these plans were not realized. Its memory, like that of the USS Enterprise (WWII), is better honored without reducing the great vessel into an empty shell.

The APC lives on, as part of all of us... and part of that trailer it embedded itself into that one night.