REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (June 22, 2024) – In 2019, Master Sergeant Bill Bishop was deployed for his third and final time as an Army Reservist before his retirement from a 39-year Army career. Long-time friend and fellow Veteran John Blair hatched a plan to secretly restore Bishop’s 1965 Ford Mustang during this one-year deployment to Afghanistan. A series of delays, to include a global pandemic, stalled the project, until now.

Blair, a long-time co-worker of Bishop’s at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, or RTC, located on Redstone Arsenal, enlisted the help of Brad Stovall, owner of a local body shop, and RTC’s deputy Commander, Kenny Chenoweth, who is also a skilled mechanic and  a co-worker at RTC.

“I did this because Bill was approved to retire.  and then that was pulled and he had to leave his family for another tour in Afghanistan,” explained Blair. “Bill gave up a lot to serve the greatest country in the world. I wanted him to know that his and his family’s sacrifice was appreciated.”

Veteran Bill Bishop was surprised with his secretly restored 1965 Mustang presented by friends at a recent car show. From left: Greg Greenwood car enthusiast and volunteer, John Blair, Veteran and friend who coordinated the restoration, Bill Bishop, Mustang Owner, Kenny Chenoweth, skilled mechanic and co-worker and Brad Stovall, owner of Brad Stovall’s auto body.

Veteran Bill Bishop was surprised with his secretly restored 1965 Mustang by former co-work John Blair at the Arab Customs and Classics Car Show June 22, 2024. Blair and several volunteers worked on the vintage car for the past 5 years.

 “John came to me and told me his story, about how dedicated Bill was to the military and I got to thinking, I couldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for him and all these other people,” explained Stovall. “You know he goes out of country for years at a time and doesn’t see his family and we’re over here living it up. So I thought it’s the least I can do.”

The project, which was expected to be completed before Bishop returned from his deployment in 2020, hit a variety of snags, the least of which was a global pandemic affecting the availability of parts. After other volunteers bowed out of the project to fix up the interior, a local Arab car enthusiast, Greg Greenwood, heard of the project from Blair and offered to help. The two worked long nights to get the car to the finish line in June 2024.

During a hot and steamy Saturday night in Arab, Alabama, at the monthly Arab Customs and Classics Car Show on June 22, Blair and friends surprised Bishop with his Mustang, unrecognizable to him after the makeover.

“I thought he was messing with me,” explained Bishop later in the week. “My wife told me she asked John to store the car in his barn so she could use the garage during my deployment. This entire time I felt bad about my car being in his barn.”

This 1965 Ford Mustang was purchase from a retiring Soldier on Redstone Arsenal by Master Sergeant (retired) Bill Bishop. Friends secretly restored the vintage car and presented to the Veteran during a car show June 22, 2024.

This 1965 Ford Mustang was purchase from a retiring Soldier on Redstone Arsenal by Master Sergeant (retired) Bill Bishop. Friends secretly restored the vintage car and presented to the Veteran during a car show June 22, 2024.

Bishop purchased the Mustang in 1996. He tinkered with it for about 10 years, before he says life got in the way forcing him to put the car on the back burner.

“There were other things I was getting reassigned to, familywise. It would be off and on, I would have to dig it out of the garage, push it into the driveway and work for a bit,” explained Bishop. “Since I got the car, I think we added up I was deployed for a total of 48 months, over three deployments.”

Bishop grew up an Army brat, finally settling in Huntsville with his family during middle school and graduating from Grissom High School. He decided to enlist in the Army and reported for boot camp on July 5, 1984.

“He’s spent his entire life being deployed away from his family, having sacrifice after sacrifice. It was important to me that we do something good for him,” explained Chenoweth, who revived the engine of the old car. “We had to return the favors he’s done for us. He’s been committed to this organization, he’s been committed to his family, but it always seemed like there was some sort of obstacle that got in the way of doing something that was important to him. That Mustang had a lot of meaning, and it was important to him.”

Years of hard work, hundreds of volunteer hours, and literal donations from many people, made the dream come true of presenting this lovingly restored classic to this Veteran.