I don’t make it a habit to praise car dealerships, but this move by Darrell Waltrip’s company was both kind-hearted and savvy.

Waltrip said the general manager of his Franklin auto dealership, John Gallagher, alerted him to the [Tennessean] story and recommended the vehicle giveaway. “I thought that’s a no-brainer — let’s help this kid out,” Waltrip said after handing [Iraq war veteran Jay] Strobino the keys…

“There are so many fake sites,” he said. “You really have to be sure. We’re in the car business, and he got ripped off by someone pretending to be real.” Waltrip said he also was motivated by Strobino’s military service.

Strobino, who was injured in a firefight south of Baghdad in 2004, is a Silver Star medal recipient, the third highest-ranking military honor. When hearing the Honda dealership was going to give him a car Tuesday, Strobino, who described himself as being “broke,” said simply: “Are you serious?”

The cost of donating a nice used car to help a veteran in need was tiny compared with the substantial media exposure generated by a front-page story in the newspaper. This was a good deed and a smart decision to move fast and do the right thing. Well done.