Fallen military heroes' children gifted cars in Owensboro
OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — On Tuesday, two young minds in Owensboro received the surprise of a lifetime: brand new cars. It's in honor of the sacrifice their families made for our country.Just ahead of Memorial Day, two gold star students are driving forward with something their late fathers would have wanted for them safety, freedom and stability.
Evansville woman beaten and robbed Monday afternoon
Micaela Trimble and Parker Madden were honored with new payment-free vehicles, thanks to Freedom Alliance and U.S. Bank's Driven to Serve program.
Trimble is a Belmont University graduate working in event planning.
'I feel like [my dad] is watching over me to be able to be the one to get selected,' says Trimble. ''I was sharing a car with my sister, so I was basically begging to use her car whenever she didn't need it.'
Madden will be a sophomore at Western Kentucky University this fall. With no team bus, he says he often takes his mothers car to transport to lacrosse competitions out-of-state.
'When I was driving down for my freshman year, pieces of my car were flying off the highway,' says Madden.
Their fathers made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan: their life. Both were living without their father by the time they were 5-years-old. Pair that with being apart of Freedom Alliance's scholarship program and officials say they've more than earned these stylish wheels.
Madden was gifted a 2025 Chevy Equinox. Trimble was gifted a 2025 Buick Encore GX.
'Providing safe, reliable transportation is something their dads would be doing for them if they were here. So, we sort of consider it part of our responsibility as their fellow Americans to help them take care of their kids,' says Tom Kilgannon, the President of Freedom Alliance.
Trimble's father, Private First Class Chad Trimble, died in May 2008. He was just 2 months into his deployment.
Parker Madden's father U.S. Army Specialist Russell Madden was killed in 2010 when a rocket propelled grenade attacked his convoy.
Madden says his first pit stop in his new car will be special. He'll go for a drive to Memorial Parkway.
'There's a road back home dedicated to my dad. It has his name on it. So, I would definitely take the car to that road first,' says Madden.
'I'd love to take my mom, my sister and my dog to the lake,' says Trimble.
They say its something they'll remember forever, just like their fathers' legacies.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'They Went Too Far': Elon Musk Just Walked Back Some Of His Explosive Criticism Of Trump
Elon Musk on Wednesday conceded that some of his recent, sharp criticism of Donald Trump 'went too far,' in an apparent effort to mend ties with the president after their nasty public feud. In a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Musk made his most overt offer yet to bury the hatchet. 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,' Musk wrote. 'They went too far.' Musk didn't clarify which posts he was referring to. About a week after he left his post at the White House, Musk condemned Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' urging Americans to kill the legislation, describing it as a 'disgusting abomination.' In response, Trump threatened to revoke the government contracts Musk's companies have secured, prompting the billionaire to turn his attacks up a notch. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk wrote Thursday. '[Trump] is in the [Jeffrey] Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.' The White House had promised to release the full documents related to the disgraced financier's case, but what was ultimately put out was largely already known. Musk also at one point seemed to call for the president's impeachment — another stunning development given his prominent role in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Musk appears to have since deleted both posts. Trump over the weekend told NBC's Kristen Welker he has no interest in repairing their relationship. But the president has since appeared more open to rapprochement. Asked if he plans to speak to Musk, Trump told reporters on Monday: 'I would imagine he wants to speak to me, I would think so.' 'If I were him I'd want to speak to me,' he added. Even before Wednesday's explicit acknowledgement of his regret for some of his criticism of Trump, Musk has signaled he was ready for a truce. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO seemed to applaud Trump's response to the protests in Los Angeles, amplifying social media posts by the president and his allies about the immigration protests. The billionaire donated nearly $300 million to Trump's 2024 White House bid and served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail. Elon Just Couldn't Stop Posting About Trump — And Experts Say It's Very Revealing Trump Reveals What's Next For That Tesla He Bought From Elon Musk Jon Stewart Busts Biggest Right-Wing Myth About 'F**king Pussies' Trump And Elon Musk
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bike camp gives children chance to learn how to ride a bike
EVANSVILLE, Ind (WEHT) – Children in Evansville are getting a chance to learn how to ride a bicycle thanks to Easterseals. About 30 children and youth with disabilities are attending the annual bike camp. They started yesterday using adapted bicycles featuring wide rollers that are almost impossible to tip over. The training helps build their confidence and get them ready to ride on their own. We're told while the first day had a few crashes, the kids were still excited to come back. Officials say events like these are not possible without volunteers and community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Drive Clean Indiana eyeing Evansville as its next big E-V charging hub
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – Drive Clean Indiana held a seminar at Red Bank Library on Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure opportunities in Evansville. The non-profit organization is a subsidiary of US Department of Energy, which has begun rolling out their GOEVIN initiative for 2025. Executive Director Carl Lisek says GOEVIN is aimed at raising support for EV charging stations in an effort to find potential grant applicants to build infrastructure with. GOEVIN is striving to build strong partnerships with local businesses and government bodies that are committed to making Indiana green for years to come. Only three percent of vehicles registered in Indiana are EV's. GOEVIN aims to change this by establishing more charging stations in the state, giving Hoosiers more choices. The program has received no federal funding thanks to Volkswagen who has pledged nearly four million towards the construction of hubs in Indiana. Over three million of that will build Direct Current Fast Charging (D-C-F-C) stations. The price tag is a hefty one for these chargers due to their power usage and ability to charge vehicles quickly. Lisek and his team also want to implement Level two charging stations in Evansville. These stations are catered toward EV drivers that travel long distance and have down time for a slower charge. Due to less energy demands, the non-profit has allocated around one hundred and seventy thousand for the construction of these stations. The Drive Clean Indiana team is committed to making Evansville a cleaner and safer place to live. Although there are critics Lisek says, 'You are going to run into that no matter the technology. Education is key, showing success, getting people behind the wheels of electric vehicles, I think that has been one of our successes.' With the help of Evansville officials, Lisek team hopes to have Evansville working as a fully functional EV charging hub by late December of 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
