Dennis Anderson, several members of Team Grave Digger, and the truck that Dennis actually drives on the Monster Jam circuit were all huge hits with the United States Marines and their friends and families during the Camp Lejeune Family Day festivities held on the North Carolina military base Saturday, August 25th.
Family Day is extremely important for the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. According to Major Mike Wilonsky, this is the day that allows the families and closest friends of the soldiers to get an up close, hands on look at what the Marines actually so through in their service to our country. “It’s an opportunity for families to get together, to walk a mile in their son’s, friends, or husbands shoes,” Wilonsky explained. “To see what they experience, the rigors of being a Marine without really going to boot camp. They get to experience the live fire, the rigorous training, the adventure training as well; the obstacle course, Marine Corps martial arts. It’s an opportunity to put the gear on, to walk around, be in the battalion area, be on the base with other families and friends and to share the camaraderie and Esprit de Corps that we share in the Marine Corps.” Several thousand friends and family members were on hand for all of the Family Day events.
As for arranging to bring in the world’s most recognized truck and the most popular Monster Jam driver in the universe, it was Major Wilonsky who knew that the Grave Digger was a perfect fit as a special attraction for this special day, especially for a group known as “The Walking Dead”. Major Wilonsky knew that Anderson and the Digger would be the ultimate addition to the festivities because he knows all about Dennis and the Grave Digger legacy. The Major says he is a life long fan: “My Dad took me to monster truck shows, and now I’ve gone to most of the Monster Jam shows over the last few years. My son Barrett, he’s five, he’s a huge fan; he’s been loving Grave Digger since he was about two. He knew Dennis was coming out here and he’s stoked – he’s got his Grave Digger shirt on, and his hat as well.”
Driver Chad Tingler was part of the Team Grave Digger entourage that made the trek to Camp Lejeune, and he said that as much as the Marines and their families enjoyed the day, the Grave Digger team members who came to the base were just as thrilled to be there. “This is awesome, just to bring the Grave Digger here to this battalion,” Tingler told me. “They were telling me that their battalion name is called “The Walking Dead”, and that name goes all the way back to Vietnam. The (Viet Cong) were telling the soldiers that they were walking dead; they just didn’t know it yet. Their patch is actually a Grim Reaper, with a sickle, and it even has a purple haze background on it. So the theme of this just kind of goes hand in hand. They are just stoked for this truck to be here and we’re stoked to have it here.”
Again, along with requesting the truck to make an appearance Major Wilonsky asked that the icon himself actually be there as well. He only had to ask once. Dennis said nothing was going to keep him from being at this Grave Digger appearance, and it ended up being a bit of an effort to actually make it happen. But make it happen he did, to the delight of thousands of Marines and their guests. “There was no way I would have missed this,” Anderson said. “I’m not kidding you, for me to get here was tough. I was in California yesterday. I left yesterday morning at 4:00, and I rolled in here to Camp Lejeune at 4:00 this morning. We had lots of flight problems but I made it. I had even called Keith Speller (the Monster Jam official who had coordinated Dennis’ appearance) and I said ‘hey, is this thing really this serious down here? I mean do these guys really want me or do they just want the truck?’ He goes ‘no, they want Dennis Anderson with that truck.’ So I said ‘o-k, I’m gonna be there buddy. Makes no difference if we have to call the military to get us in there.’”
Anderson knew he wanted to be a part of this, but was blown away with the reception he got when arrived on the base. “When I got down there they had plaques for me, they had a custom made t-shirt for me with my name on it, so I was really floored when I came in,” Anderson exclaimed. “It’s a big crowd of people. What they’re doing is getting ready to deploy these guys, so they are showing them some love, and showing all of the family what goes on behind the scenes.”
Along with making the trip to sign autographs and take pictures, Anderson jumped at the chance to grab the microphone and talk to all of the families and to thank the soldiers for their service. “Moms and Dads are worried about their kids, and we just went in there and talked to them,” Dennis recalled. “I was telling them I’ve been doing this (Monster Jam) for 25 years, and I’ve broken my ribs, broken my knee, I’ve had a concussion, I’ve broken my arm, I’ve done this, I’ve done that, and I’ve got buddies of mine who have retired from the military who have been to Vietnam and came back home who have never been hit, always been missed, and never been hurt. I was just telling the families that when you see things in the press, the press always shows the bad stuff, so don’t worry about it.”
Like Tingler, Dennis’s son Ryan who made the trip, and the other Team Grave Digger members on hand it’s clear that this battalion and this Monster Jam team have a special bond. “These guys are known as the “Waling Dead”, and their symbol is the Grim Reaper, with purple in the background, and it’s totally awesome,” Anderson said, clearly thrilled that these Marines so clearly identified with the theme of his truck for the last quarter century. “Major Mike, he’s a big, huge Grave Digger fan, and he’s the one who put all of this together. He put everybody up to doing this, and some of the higher-ups were like ‘well who is this Grave Digger, what is that all about? Why do we want to have that here?’ And it was Major Mike who said ‘this will be perfect.’ I saw his vision for how this would work, and once he put me on stage to talk to all of the people here it was truly awesome.”
“I’m up here talking to the parents who have their kids enlisted in the Marine Corps,” Dennis continued. “They condition these guys and they are getting them ready to send them out. So I just thanked everybody in there. I told them I’m here because so many of them have supported me for 25 years and I’m giving back to them. Not only have they been supporting us, they are out there fighting for freedom so we can keep on going out there and Monster Jammin’”.
The 2007 Family Day at the Marine Corps base in Camp Lejeune, NC, was a day that the Marines and their families won’t soon forget, and clearly one of the biggest highlights of the day was the appearance by Dennis Anderson, his Monster Jam machine, and members of Team Grave Digger. But it was so much more than just a highlight for the soldiers and their families. It was a thrill, and an honor, for each Team Grave Digger member who had the privilege of being a part of spending a very special day with thousands of very special people.
