The 1976 Ford F100 truck has a little rust and a lot of miles, but it meant the world to Whitefish resident Brian Cain in the final days of his Army service at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash.

“It brought me to the verge of tears — I needed it so bad,” Brian said. “I love the truck.”

The gift was all the sweeter arriving on his Nov. 6 birthday and just before Veterans Day as a thank you for his service from the Rempel family of Evergreen. Brian is wrapping up a difficult year which included his return from Afghanistan with a service-related disability and a marriage that didn’t survive his time away from the states.

His heart was breaking, thinking about the effects of divorce on his three-year-old daughter Payden, when five children he had never met chose him from a field of 80 to receive their family’s old pickup. Leaving the Army with little savings, Brian had been struggling with getting his possessions home in his mother’s small passenger car. But, then the Rempels gave him their pickup.

“That was the first real turnaround for me,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

After graduating in 2006 from Whitefish High School, Brian married in November then left for Army basic training in January 2007. He and his wife welcomed their daughter into the world in October of that year.

Brian, now 23, was grateful for the opportunities opened up by military service. He had struggled working for low wages in the lumber industry after high school. He couldn’t imagine how he would have supported his family if he hadn’t enlisted.

“It has provided me a means to provide for my daughter,” he said.

When Brian arrived in Afghanistan in April 2009, he faced unimaginable challenges, working 96 hours a week under constant fire at a remote forward operating base in the vicinity of Jalalabad. The enemy worked hard to demoralize soldiers serving far from home.

“On Christmas Eve we had a mortar attack,” he said. “They liked to hit us on Christian holidays and other American holidays, just when we were trying to be happy.”

The attacks came frequently with everything from small arms to rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds to Chinese rockets.

His job in transportation logistics kept him mainly on the flight line loading and unloading personnel and materials from airplanes and helicopters.

“About the only thing we didn’t do was fly them,” he said.

In the process, he dealt with wounded and dead soldiers at various stages of medical transport. Exposure to so much trauma took a toll on Brian, along with physical deterioration from heavy loads, accidents and nearby explosions.

Just when it seemed things couldn’t get worse, they did. Brian learned that his marriage was in trouble.

In April, he returned to the United States a changed man.

“They say every year in the Army ages you three years,” he said.

When he couldn’t repair his relationship, Brian decided separating from the service at the end of his hitch was necessary for him to stay as close as possible to Payden.

As her son struggled, his mother Liz Cain of Whitefish felt his pain as much or more than he did. She loaned him her car and began looking for ways to help him out of the darkness that had descended on his life.

She found a possible answer one day while visiting Freecycle.org on the Internet.

“It’s the ultimate recycling site where people offer things that work or are broken so someone who needs it may get it,” Liz said. “It’s kind of a green movement.”

When she saw the 1976 Ford pickup offered for free in Kalispell, she immediately wrote a message describing her son’s service to his country and his need for a truck to move back to Montana. It was one of an avalanche of responses received by Earl and Jenny Rempel and their five children.

Jenny said she had picked up a few things through Freecycle.org and decided it was the best method to offer up the pickup.

“The truck was given to us about four years ago so we didn’t feel comfortable selling it,” she said.

Jenny said the family drove the truck until they found a smaller, more fuel-efficient 1981 Ford Courier for $400. After their posting of the free pickup went up on the website, the Rempels heard from more than 80 people.

Some, like Liz, wrote notes describing their need for the truck that required radiator work, a new windshield and other repairs.

“Each story pulled at the heart strings,” Jenny said.

They went through a process of elimination, eliminating people who just wanted to restore it as a hobby and people who needed it for parts.

Many requests still remained, so Earl, who works at Lowe’s, and Jenny decided to hand the remaining letters to their children to decide. Jenny, who home schools the children, had Russel, 14, read the letters to Nick, 12, Elijah, 10, Denielle, 8, and Jaydon, 7.

Jenny insisted that they give each one careful consideration.

“By the time they got to Brian they had a hard time reading any more letters,” she said. “My oldest is very partial to the military. Since he was 4, he has wanted to be a Marine.”

Both Jenny and Earl come from families with members who served so they have raised their children to appreciate military service and understand patriotism.

When the children chose Brian as the most deserving of the truck, Jenny contacted Liz to confirm she had the resources to get the vehicle in working order. As it turned out, she received a great deal on the work from Ken Herman of Ken’s Automotive on Baker Street in Whitefish.

“He’s the commander of the VFW post in Whitefish and a gung-ho Marine,” Liz said.

When she met the Rempels to get the pickup, Liz was moved by the pictures with thank you notes that each child created for Brian. Elijah wrote “Thank you Brian for fighting for us” and Russel wrote “Thank you for serving in the Army for our freedom.”

The other children echoed those sentiments of gratitude for his service to the country.

“They’re all just precious,” Liz said.

She drove the truck to Washington just in time for her son’s 23rd birthday on Saturday. Brian, who likes old trucks, dubbed his new wheels “Trooper” because the truck “ran like a champ” with no problems from Montana.

“The heater works and it drives,” Brian said. “That’s all I ask. This has really helped me a lot.”

Liz loaded up some of his belongings to bring back to Whitefish Wednesday in preparation for Brian’s return shortly before Thanksgiving. His service officially ends in January but he had 50 days of unused leave, so he will be able to spend the holidays at home and begin the spring semester as a freshman at the University of Montana, Missoula.

He’ll continue to be in the Army reserves for four years to finish the contract he made when he volunteered. In return, Brian receives full college tuition and a monthly stipend.

According to Brian, his military service gave him something even more important for his future.

“It was probably the best experience I could have asked for — to not only try it but to be successful,” he said. “I know I can do anything after the Army.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.