Episode Details

Cars aren’t just a mode of transportation. They’re a passion. An image. A lifestyle. For many families, they are the bond that brings together father and son. For Frank Viola, cars are the legacy of his son, Green Beret SSG Alex Viola.  

Alex graduated as a Green Beret in 2011 and then went on to get his Combat Dive Certification. In September 2013, his team deployed to Afghanistan as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom. On November 17, 2013 Alex lost his life to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while on dismounted patrol.

After the loss of their son, Frank and his family faced the unimaginable challenge of how to move forward. The answer came from something Alex loved deeply: cars. Alex was a true car guy, and restoring vehicles with his dad was one of the ways they spent time together.

What began as a simple idea to honor Alex’s memory turned into the SSG Alex Viola Memorial Car Show. The first event was held in freezing weather with modest expectations, but the community showed up, raising twenty thousand dollars that first year alone.

Today the event has grown into something far greater than anyone imagined. Nearly four hundred cars fill the lot each year, and the show has raised nearly seven hundred thousand dollars to support charitable causes, including the families of Green Berets through the Green Beret Foundation.

Host Fran Racioppi sits down with Frank Viola to share how this fundraiser is more than impressive horsepower and jaw-dropping donations. It’s a powerful story of resilience, community, and how one family's determination not only honors a fallen hero but has also remarkably reunited their own distant family members and created a new, unbreakable bond with Alex’s former Green Beret teammates.

Highlights

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:57 Welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast
• 2:22 Who was SSG Alex Viola?
• 6:11 Why a Car Show?
• 10:05 How loss brought the family together
• 12:34 Alex’s Team
• 16:03 The 2025 Show
• 17:02 Working with the Foundations
• 18:36 Advice for Future Green Berets

Quotes

• “Alex was a father’s dream of a son.”
• “His whole thing was to be out there in the ditches with the guys.”
• “Alex was a car guy.”
• “In a million years, we never e