If you're on the streets of Wichita or Newton, watch for a Mustang this weekend.
Its owner calls it the American Spirit Mustang. Scott Lewis says when you see it, you understand why.
"I think things come in time," he said. "There's a time and a place for everything."
And every place on Lewis's 1971 Ford Mustang Mach One marks a time in American battles.
Lewis said it took two years to completely rebuild the muscle car. "We chose this particular Mustang because we wanted a bigger car," so he could display as many pictures as possible. "And we wanted something that showed American Muscle, " he said with a smile.
The history lesson starts near the car's tailpipe,with the American Revolutionary War chronicled. By the back quarter panel, it's images of World War II. The pictures of men in the fields of Vietnam sit on the front quarter panel and fender. A headline describing September 11th adorns the hood.
The car attracts crowds wherever Lewis goes. He encourages people to spend time looking at the images, even though the car.
Cherry Lynn Slechta was one of those people. "You can see everything," she said. "You can see not just one time, not just one war, but all of them."
Each image captures a moment, each picture a memory. "It makes me think of people that I lost," said Slechta, "especially in Vietnam."
The car has criss-crossed the country, marking the miles for those who couldn't. "I think other people ought to see it," said Sletcha. "Ought to be able to come out and touch it."
Lewis recounted some of his meetings. "Just an amazing range of emotions. We just had a gentleman here who served in Vietnam, and he broke down in tears."
The Kansas native now lives in Missouri. But whenever he can, he drives it wherever he can. He says he uses it to remind people of the American Spirit, the one he says he's captured on his car.
"This car means a lot," he summarized, "and it means a lot to the people who see it."
Lewis accepts donations, and said every penny goes to the Fisher House, a place where the families of injured servicemen can stay while their loved ones are in a Veterans Hospital.
