Jay Leno surprises wounded serviceman with a new muscle car
Nov 22, 2014, 3:03 PM | Updated: Apr 24, 2015, 8:06 pm
Jay Leno is a car guy, and he’s also done quite well for himself in the show business.
So when he decided to give back recently to a wounded service member, there was only one kind of gift on his mind.
The entertainer teamed up with NBC’s “Today” show and “did a sort of lottery” where they picked a soldier’s name at random. Leno said he wanted to help out that soldier in a way that expresses what they want to do for all service members.
That soldier was Cpl. Ethan Laberge. Laberge had been on foot patrol in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber drove up and detonated himself, seriously injuring Leberge and killing two fellow soldiers who had been standing with him.
Laberge said he suffered several serious arm and leg injuries from a blast of shrapnel. He also began having memory problems because of a traumatic brain injury.
Leno, 64, said that when he meets many soldiers, most are barely out of their teens and he finds they’re often worlds apart. But Leno said he and Leberge were quickly able to find common ground in their love of cars, and Leno had just the thing for Leberge: a ride in a 2015 Dodge SRT Hellcat.
The long-time “Tonight” show host originally just took Laberge out for a ride in the Dodge near the serviceman’s base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. But after getting lunch and returning back to base, Leno told Laberge, “It’s yours.”
“America loves you. Thank you buddy. Have a lot of fun. Don’t get any tickets,” added Leno, who recently returned to the “Tonight” show as a guest.
Even in retirement, Leno continues to keep it classy.