Photo courtesy of CNN. ON THE DOTTED LINE: With Gail looking on, Dave Liniger signs a check to the Fisher House Foundation for $1 million.

Neck-and-neck with another bidder at a charity auction on Saturday, Dave Liniger wowed the crowd with a winning $1 million bid on CNN's "Warrior One" Hummer, which was refurbished last fall on TLC's "Overhaulin'" program.

Used in Iraq by a news team embedded with a Marine Corps unit in 2003, the remodeled Hummer was auctioned to raise money for the Fisher House Foundation, which provides a home away from home for families of wounded service members rehabilitating in military hospitals.

The Hummer netted $1.25 million total when the fellow bidder agreed to pad Liniger's donation with an extra $250,000.

"The guy who put the [$250,000] in was bidding against me up to the last minute," Liniger (ABR, CRB) told CNN's Rick Sanchez. "He turned around, he put his arms around me and he says, 'Hey, you buy the car, you get the car. I'll add 250 to it.' A fabulous gesture."

Organizers expected the vehicle to net something in the hundreds of thousands, but few were prepared for Liniger's seven-figure bid. A Vietnam veteran himself, Liniger couldn't pass up an opportunity to support wounded troops.

Read CNN's full coverage and view the event photo gallery.