It's 1 p.m. on a Thursday and I have no idea what's going on.
I've just returned from an out-of-town event extolling the virtues of 2NR and now I find myself sitting idly by in my cubicle, stood up by one Sergeant Nick Ashby. We've previously exchanged emails and phone calls, and Ashby called me no more than three hours earlier, setting our meeting time at the 12 o'clock hour. According to my cell phone, he arrives at our office around the 1:30 p.m. marker. Nextel wouldn't lie to me, right?
But these things are to be expected from a man as busy as Ashby. Between work, the girlfriend, Army National Guard duty and taking care of this Infiniti G35 coupe, the guy really does have his hands full. When I casually throw out the question of what he does in his free time, Ashby simply replies, "military"-fair enough.
Always the hard worker, Ashby pulls into the parking lot surrounding our shining tower of an office with a truck and trailer loaded down with 26-foot wooden construction beams. Building security is up in arms, onlookers gawk at the massive building materials, he's already the most interesting guest to run through our halls. This is going to be a good story.
I spend my waiting time scribbling down questions, eager to do my best soft filter Barbara Walters impression with Ashby. It won't be necessary. Ashby arrives fully prepared, loaded down with two computers, CD's filled with images and multiple copies of the technical information form I sent him. He's casually dressed as well, wearing jeans, a low-slung cap and a white t-shirt emblazoned with the words "Team Barnhart." Fit and trim, Ashby scored a 95 on his last physical test, and yet, he won't be mistaken for a 'roided up bodybuilder anytime soon. He's no skinny pansy, but Ashby's also not John Cena from The Marine. Think the cast of The OC or any one of those CA-area MTV shows that mixes together the words "Laguna," "Real," "Hills" or "Beach" and you'd be dead on. It's no wonder that I keep asking the Temecula, Calif., resident, "How's San Diego doing?", like some ass with no short-term memory.
But you know what, it's OK. Ashby is easy going, understanding and most important, talkative. Dare I say it, charming. It comes as no surprise that this man built this Infiniti G35 coupe, his first-ever project car, and managed to line up such a long list of dedicated sponsors.
Built as a tribute to fallen soldiers, Ashby's G35 is a project car that companies actually want to sponsor. The custom 20-inch DPE wheels are airbrushed with the values of the U.S. Army, on the driver's side is a list of every war the National Guard has fought in, on the rear is the National Guard motto, the windshield holds the National Guard creed and the G35 itself is airbrushed with faces. Faces of fallen heroes who refuse to be forgotten.
Going over the Infiniti's background story, Ashby recants the tale calmly and smoothly, as if he's told it a hundred times before. But when he speaks, there is a glimmer of sadness in his tone. I can tell he wishes he didn't have to tell this story, but he is damn proud of those that are in it. As fellow active members of the California Army National Guard 579th Engineer Battalion, First Lieutenant Andre Tyson, Sergeant First Class Michael Ottolini and Sergeant Patrick McCaffery Sr. lost their lives in Iraq. When Ashby returned to the United States, he knew he had to do something. The memory of his friends was fading fast and these were the men who he had forged eternal bonds of friendship and brotherhood. This was unacceptable.