For those individuals with family members or friends serving in the military, every day is Armed Forces Day. And while the nation just celebrated the official Armed Forces Day this last weekend, one day a year is nothing compared to the sacrifices our troops make on a daily basis. That’s why Carmen Brancato of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania created the Warrior Camaro to bring awareness to the Wounded Warrior Project charity.
In celebration of Armed Forces Day, Classic Industries, a sponsor of the car, recently posted pictures of this unique Camaro on their Facebook page. While we’ve seen the car before, we wanted to know more about it, and what we found was a story and a mission just as unique as the car.
After touring the Center of the Intrepid, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility for injured military personnel at the San Antonio, Texas Brooke Army Medical Hospital with his sister, an Army nurse, in June of 2009, Brancato decided he wanted to do something to help support the rehabilitation of our wounded soldiers.
After doing some research, Brancato discovered the Wounded Warrior Project and decided to turn his daily-driver Camaro into a tribute piece to raise awareness and funds for the charity.
What resulted is the Camaro you see here, vinyl wrapped in $3,500 worth of custom graphics that honor all the branches of the military. Along the sides of the car are images from the Air Force, Navy, Navy SEALs, Marines and Army, while on the hood you’ll find a dedication to anyone who’s ever served in the military. Brancato sold his truck in order to pay for the graphics.
Since the Camaro made its debut on July 4th, 2009, Brancato has taken it to military bases, hospitals, car shows, concerts and was even invited to the 2009 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show in Las Vegas. In taking the car around, Brancato aims to bring awareness to the Wounded Warrior Project and the individuals they serve, as well as raise money to support their cause.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a charity dedicated to empowering and honoring those individuals who sustained service-related injuries on or after September 11, 2001. According to the Wounded Warrior Project website, over 47,000 military personnel have been injured in recent military conflicts, not including the hundreds of thousands of members of our troops that have sustained traumatic brain injuries or experience combat-related struggles such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Wounded Warrior Project helps these individuals recover and adjust to their injuries both mentally and physically through special programs that help wounded servicemen and women stay active and healthy, as well as stay connected to others, become economically empowered and readjust to civilian life.
These services are free to wounded armed forces members, so funding comes mainly from donations.
This year, the Warrior Camaro will be making even more appearances. As well as appearing at the New York Auto Show in April and the NASCAR All Star Race last weekend, the Camaro will participate in the Hot Rod Power Tour, the GM Nationals Car Show in Carlisle, PA, the NASCAR Brickyard 400 and the Run for the Heros event.
If you’d like to see the Warrior Camaro in person, be sure to check out the full event listing on the official website for the car. There, you will also find a full list of sponsors, including Classic Industries, Tremec, Brodix, Baer, Flaming River, Centerforce, Edelbrock, COMP Cams, K&N, MSD, Holley, Royal Purple and Flowmaster. To donate to the Wounded Warrior Project, visit their website here.