Man chosen to ride in inaugural parade

NORWICH, Conn. (WTNH) -- A special honor for a Franklin man. George King is among the select few who will be riding in President Obama's inaugural parade next month.

"255 was the number put on the ambulance by the American Field Service. The original ambulance was donated by the Groton School in Groton Massachusetts," Frank King said.

This is an exact replica of an American Ambulance driven in France during World War 1 by American volunteers. Researching and building it has become a passion for Frank King.

"I got captivated by the story and I said. We have to tell the story of American volunteers and the best way to tell it is to build an ambulance," King said.

And he built the 1916 Model T Ford to the exact detail of the original.

"We build the bodies exactly the same way that the Kelner & Sons Carriage Works built them using the exact same materials including the four thousand dollars worth of mahogany that we imported from the Ivory Coast just to make it right," King said.

This latch is one of the final pieces that George King was looking for to complete this project. It took him four years but he found it on line. It goes on this window frame right up there.

He even has genuine stretchers from the same era. Hard work which paid off.

He will drive this in the president's inaugural parade.

"Out of over two thousand applicants we were one of two hundred chosen to be in the parade so we're quite honored to be in that position," King said.

He's also doing this to promote volunteerism just like he has heard Michelle Obama do.

"I got in touch with her and I told her I wanted to wave to her from the seat of the ambulance at the inaugural in 2012 and I shall now have that opportunity," King said.

Mr. King will go to Washington in historic style.