Guard’s Mission: Stop Drinking, Driving

Their hot rod probably couldn’t beat a moped in the quarter-mile, but it’s got armored plates and a boffo green paint job that turns plenty of heads on the local strip.

It’s an armored personnel carrier, one of the cruising machines driven by Army National Guard troops delivering an anti-drinking and driving message to Lewiston’s Saturday night set.

“I can’t believe they’re allowed to do this in the Army,” said cruiser Jennifer Kossman, 18, who asked guardsmen to sign a Frisbee given away as part of the Operation Guard campaign.

The troops belong to the 116th Engineering Battalion, which routinely does community projects such as the recent construction of a football field for Orofino students.

“This year, we thought we’d do something that just doesn’t have gas and bulldozers involved, something personal,” Sgt. Fred McFall said.

The project is especially personal for the unit. A 116th soldier, Orin T. Alexander, 19, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter in an alcohol-related traffic accident March 16 in Lewiston.

“Orin Alexander graduated No. 1 in basic training,” McFall said. “Suppose we’d been out there with a Frisbee and a pop (the night of the accident). Maybe he would have stopped.”

Guardsmen offer free Pepsi products to cruisers, asking them to drink soft drinks if they’re going to drink and drive.

The drinks are donated by PepsiCola. Happy Days Corp. donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of coupons for free food at Taco Time and Arby’s, and Medical Service Bureau donated 1,500 free Frisbees.