Veteran drives a military truck to school

Students at Utah State University get around its 400-acre campus in a variety of ways. Some just walk. Others ride bikes or take the Aggie Shuttle.

Seth Newman drives a military transport truck.

The truck looks like something out of a World War ll movie. Usually parked by Maverik Stadium, the 6×6 tan truck takes up two parking spots. It’s cavernous bed, which can hold up to 5 tons, sits on wheels measuring four and one-half feet tall.

Newman, a senior studying communications, bought the truck from a man who rebuilds engines and who originally got it from a government auction. Newman had always dreamed of owning a large truck so when he saw the vehicle for sale, he jumped at the opportunity.

The truck means more than a realized childhood fantasy, however, it represents his inner strength and pride for his accomplishments.

Newman is a Marine Corps veteran. He served from 2012 to 2017 in a variety of capacities: career planner, platoon sergeant and air traffic control, to name a few.

Newman’s time in the military affected him deeply, leaving him with new perspectives and struggling to readapt to society. These experiences, both positive and negative, have helped shape the direction of his life now.

“It’s been a huge impact in my life,” Newman said. “It’s created habits, abilities, perspectives that I would have gotten no other way.”

Newman struggled with extreme culture shock when returning from active duty. In the military, everyone has each other’s back. Everyone has the same objective.

Newman had to learn to reconcile everything he experienced and learned in the military with a society focused on other values.

“We had to learn how to adjust back into a society where the guy to your left and right isn’t looking out for your well-being and they’re concerned about their own,” Newman said, “And so sometimes we feel like we get let down and hanging out to dry.”

Newman turned to several outlets to cope. One of which has been starting his own business. Newman’s business teaches leadership skills and confidence through the careful application of firearms.

​​”It helps people kind of create confidence in themselves and see the leadership within, so that they can apply that to their lives in areas that they want to improve,” Newman said.

The business helps provide solace for Newman in that he’s able to share his passions with others. It allows him to utilize the skills he’s developed in the military to help others take control of their life.

“I have a passion for serving people and, you know, helping them talk through situations or helping them influence their life choices of where they want to be and what they want to do and helping them kind of embrace who they are and that uniqueness that they have,” he said.

Other times, Newman bottles up his emotions to cope.

“A lot of times I go seek solitude, and just want to be alone,” he said. “Other times you cope with anger, and sometimes you got to go out and scream or break something or build something.”

Newman’s truck represents what he’s been through. It represents the uniqueness of who he is and what he’s survived.

“I personally believe that it represents my inner strength,” he said, “the strength I have and the confidence that I have and what I’ve been through. Even though I struggle I still see myself as a strong, capable human being.”

Newman’s truck has also made an impact on the community. According to Newman, some have even used it as a landmark. One of his neighbors used his truck to describe where he lived to someone in Moab who was also attending Utah State University.

Newman receives a variety of comments on his truck. This has provided him with the opportunity to meet lots of new people.

“I get to interact with a lot of people wherever I go because it does stand out,” Newman said.

People’s reactions range from awed children staring up at the huge truck, to clusters of people admiring its uniqueness, to people asking him questions about its practicality.

Strangers aren’t the only ones who question the truck’s practicality. Newman’s friend Jon Gutierrez describes riding in the passenger seat as something akin to “re-entering the atmosphere even at low speeds.”

“It’s pretty rough, although it’s not the worst thing I’ve ridden,” Gutierrez said.

For Newman, the only real obstacle to driving the truck is finding parking, as it takes up two spots. It can also take a while to speed up, making it hard to weave through traffic. However, Newman is willing to deal with these challenges.

For him, the truck means much more than small practicalities. It’s a form of self-expression. Going forward, he encourages everyone else to do the same: to accept what makes them, them.

“Your uniqueness and your weirdness is your strength, because no one else is like you,” Newman said. “And you know, if you live at a point where you can be you, that’s when your potential can do amazing things.”