JOPLIN, Mo. - Veteran comes home to a ‘dream come true’

OFF THE WIRE
BY: Sarah Guinn
 news@joplinglobe.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — After serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Mark Chamberlin was happy to return home to Webb City last week and be with his wife, Betsy.
Though they were separated by thousands of miles, they found a way to stay connected thanks to a sleek, black bike decked out in flames and skulls.
The motorcycle Chamberlin had been dreaming about while in Afghanistan was waiting for him when he got home.
“I’m beyond pleased with how it turned out,” he said.
The Chamberlins exchanged e-mails and photos to create a motorcycle that reflected his service with the Kansas National Guard in Afghanistan as a combat engineer.
But it was Betsy who worked tirelessly with Westside Customs, of Joplin, to make it happen.
“It was a constant effort,” she said. “But it was worth it in the end because I wanted him to feel the freedom in being back at home.”
Dave O’Banion, owner of the custom shop at 1403 E. Fourth St., said, “It was an ongoing process for about a year.’’
The shop put countless hours into its intricate details. O’Banion’s crew worked to specially craft the symbolism and meaning put into every bit of the bike.
Charlie Brown and his wife, Adina, members of O’Banion’s crew, showed off the bike’s details. Enamel flames painted down the side of the bike and skulls etched into the headlights were all part of Chamberlin’s vision, they said.
Quiterio “Q” Luciano said he spent hours completing the handpainted artwork found on the bike.
“Mark gave me the ideas and we agreed on the design,” Luciano said.
Artwork on the back of the bike, handpainted by “Q,” symbolizes Chamberlin’s Army efforts. A skull, wearing a red beret, serves to symbolize Chamberlin’s branch in the military. But the imagery doesn’t stop there.
The bike is decked out in flames and skulls, because those are pieces that held a special significance to Chamberlin from his service in Afghanistan, he said.
“The flames and skulls on the bike are for the people I knew and lost,” he said.
The customized aspects of the bike made for a tough project. There were pitfalls and problems that went into creating the bike and getting everything “just right,” Betsy said.
She said she e-mailed her husband, while he was overseas, to pick out the right parts and make every inch of the final product everything he envisioned. But sometimes the parts that came in for the bike would be for the wrong year or the wrong make. That made the process difficult, she said.
When asked when work on the bike would be officially complete, Chamberlin’s wife and the crew at Westside Customs said, “Bikes are never complete.”
As an expression of his appreciation, Chamberlin presented to the crew a U.S. flag brought back from Afghanistan.
Chamberlin said he plans to take the bike to rallies and on a trip to a motorcycle museum to show off all of the work that went into it.
“Getting this bike is like a childhood dream come true for me,” he said.
Chamberlin gleamed with excitement and pride as he got to rev the bike’s engine.
“Not every veteran gets to come home like this,” he said.