From Lanett to ‘Mission Restored’
LeAnn Jones Boesch carries a family legacy of service forward
CONTRIBUTED BY LeAnn Jones Boesch
LANETT — A 1971 Chevrolet Camaro that sat unfinished for nearly 25 years is finally getting its second chance. For Lanett native LeAnn Jones Boesch, the story behind its restoration has become part of a much larger mission rooted in family, military service and home.
Boesch, whom many in the Lanett area may remember as LeAnn Jones, is the daughter of Gary and Linda Jones of Lanett and a Springwood School graduate. She is the founder and president of Victory Heights Foundation, a nonprofit serving veterans, active-duty military members, law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders and others affected by trauma.
Although the foundation’s work now reaches people across the country, its name has roots much closer to home.
Victory Heights Foundation was named in honor of Boesch’s grandfather, Paul G. Rearden, a Lanett native and World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Rearden was captured by German forces and held as a prisoner of war.
After he returned home from the war, the Lanett neighborhood where the family lived became known as Victory Heights. Decades later, his granddaughter chose the name for a foundation dedicated to serving others.
Military service continued to be part of the family’s story. Boesch’s cousin, Donna Rush, also from Lanett, served a career in the U.S. Navy before retiring.
Today, that legacy of service is reaching a new audience through “Mission Restored: A Victory Heights Series,” a YouTube docuseries following the restoration of a 1971 Chevrolet Camaro and its journey toward Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in Arizona.
A Camaro put on hold for a higher calling
The Camaro belongs to LeAnn’s husband, David “Dave” Boesch, a retired U.S. Army Special Operations veteran.
Dave purchased the Camaro before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with plans to restore it. After 9/11, those plans changed.
Dave chose to join the military, beginning a career that would ultimately take him into U.S. Army Special Operations. The Camaro was put away in his father’s shop, where it would remain for nearly 25 years while Dave devoted that chapter of his life to serving his country.
Now, more than two decades later, the car is finally being brought back to life, and it is being restored with a purpose.
Veterans, active-duty service members, first responders and supporters are participating in the build, making the people behind the restoration just as important as the car itself.
That history helped inspire the project’s name, Mission Restored.
More than a car
The entire journey is being professionally documented for the YouTube docuseries, beginning with the teardown and continuing through the Camaro’s transformation.
Along the way, viewers will meet veterans, active-duty service members, first responders and others participating in the build and hear some of the stories behind the people Victory Heights Foundation exists to serve.
The team’s goal is to take the completed Camaro to Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in Arizona, where the project can introduce Victory Heights Foundation and its mission to an even larger audience.
The Camaro provides the backdrop, but the people and their stories are at the heart of “Mission Restored.”
There is also a fitting parallel between a car that waited nearly 25 years for its second chance and a foundation focused on helping people move forward after difficult chapters in their own lives.
The Camaro was not forgotten. Its story simply was not finished.
A growing mission
In approximately three years, Victory Heights Foundation has raised more than $6.6 million and helped hundreds of people receive care.
The foundation provides access to Vitanya Brain Performance, an intensive six-month, 84-session program, for veterans, active-duty military members, law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders and others affected by trauma.
For LeAnn and Dave, “Mission Restored” is an opportunity to do more than rebuild a classic car. It allows them to share the stories of people who have served and introduce more people to the mission of Victory Heights Foundation.
For LeAnn, there is also something particularly meaningful about sharing that journey with the community where her own story began.
What started with a family legacy of service in Lanett has grown into a mission reaching people across the country, while still carrying a name and a history rooted back home.
Follow the journey
Viewers can follow the 1971 Camaro restoration and its journey toward Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale by subscribing to the Victory Heights Foundation YouTube channel, where “Mission Restored: A Victory Heights Series” documents the people, progress and stories behind the build.
Viewers are encouraged to subscribe, watch, like, comment and share the series. Each interaction helps Victory Heights Foundation reach a larger audience and bring greater awareness to its mission.
Nearly 25 years after being put away, the Camaro is finally getting its chance to finish the story.
And everyone back home is invited to come along for the ride.
