Welcome Joker ,I like your title and I too wish to thank you for your service .I just sold my 68 Malibu project car and a parts car with it .Also let almost all the hard to find accumulated parts go with it.If you were closer I would offer you a NOS GM 68 right front fender for a good price but shipping something that big would be costly .

Joker ,after you finish body work you could get a cheap (Maaco) paint job until you could afford something better .Just take off as much trim as possible before you take it to them.ometimes they do a paint job special for $250 .

Sorry it's been a while. Thanks for all the tips so far. I have almost completely stripped the car. I have done a lot of Bondo work. Still going strong every weekend. I have primed all the panels that won't require body work to ease the eyes working out in the sun. At this point since I am looking to make it a weekend warrior. I am going to slowly use fillier and get the lines as straight as I can. Finish rattle can priming then see about an inexpensive paint job. Then in four years when I retire from the military do more of a full restoration. In the meantime I am sure to have lots of questions. Mostly getting the body realigned...the passenger side door rubs/pops on the fender when you open the door...clueless how to fix this one.

Some pictures from last weekend...
 

Here's my kids helping with the removal of the rotted weatherstripping. Second one is showing the fender after filler and primer. Coming along...slow but sure!