Peggy Clark and her children, Hunter and Kalah, cut the ribbon off a new Mustang Friday morning. The three, along with dad Staff Sgt. Lyn Clark, won a new Ford Mustang in the Burger King/AAFES "Dog Tag Drill Call" game. They have special-ordered their own Mustang for delivery around November. (Steve Mraz / Stars and Stripes)
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — A $20 breakfast at the Burger King on Spangdahlem Air Base turned out to be worth about $30,000 for the Clark family.
The family, composed of Staff Sgt. Lyn Clark of the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron at Spangdahlem, wife Peggy and their children, Hunter and Kalah, won a new Ford Mustang last month by collecting all four pieces required in the Burger King/AAFES “Dog Tag Drill Call” game during that single meal.
A ceremony Friday morning at the Spangdahlem Burger King recognized the Clarks and other winners.
The Clark family’s lucky meal came as they prepared to leave on a short trip. Sgt. Clark had been home only two weeks from a nearly five-month deployment to Iraq, and Peggy’s parents were in Germany visiting when they all decided to visit historical sites in Normandy, France.
The family stopped by Burger King before hitting the road. They began peeling off the contest pieces, and discovered they had what they needed to win the Mustang.
“We pulled over here at the front and just sat there for probably about 15 minutes,” Peggy said. “We actually said, ‘This is just too good to be true.’ I put them all in my little billfold and said, ‘Let’s just go to Normandy.’”
After they returned from the trip, the Clarks did some checking and waited a week and a half before returning to the Burger King to tell the managers what happened.
The Clarks get to order a new Mustang of their choice. The family has already decided that it will be burgundy, and that they will go for all the extras that they can. They should get the newly revamped model of the classic American muscle car around November.
“It’s faster than the van we have now,” Peggy Clark said. “It’s definitely an upgrade.”
The Clarks weren’t the only winners at the Spangdahlem Burger King. Airman 1st Class Josh Jorgensen won a $5,000 AAFES gift card by playing the “Dog Tag Drill Call” game. Elissa Black won a $500 AAFES gift card, and Dr. (Maj.) Dennis Holt won a $1,000 AAFES gift card through the contest.
Holt, who is being transferred with his family to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., in June, plans to use his gift card there.
“We’ve been overseas for six years,” Holt said. “We don’t really know what’s out there, so I’m sure there’s going to be lots of toys when we get back to the States.”
Jack Morris, senior vice president of AAFES-Europe, said he was surprised by the number of winners at one location.
“The odds are just incredible,” he said.
