From our partners at WTNH...
A wounded Iraq War veteran saw his new home for the first time Wednesday morning. A national charity renovated a house in Glastonbury for the Army veteran.
It looked like a small parade, but was actually a hero’s homecoming. He was literally coming to see his new home for the first time. The hero here is Specialist Crag Hall. He joined the Army after 9\11. In April of 2007, he was in the turret of a tank in Iraq.
“My tank rolled over an IED. Exploded underneath,” Hall explained. “I got shot out the top and it shattered my foot.”
Craig lost the lower part of his leg, and his life changed forever.
“It’s the struggles of life when you get home, “Hall said. “If you have a set of stairs, you’ve got to climb up those, you know what I mean? You can’t use your wheelchair or your crutches all the time.”
He applied to a charity called Building Homes for Heroes that was fixing up a house on New London Turnpike.
“Building Homes for Heroes is a national nonprofit, and what we do is donate mortgage-free homes to wounded veterans who were injured after 9/11,” explained Jim Rogers of Building Homes for Heroes.
Volunteers spent months renovating the split-level home. They said a few months ago, it was unlivable. Burst pipes caused water damage that did not get repaired. They had to rip up the floors, gut renovate the kitchen and the bathrooms.
A lot of people helped with the house, and a lot of the, showed up to welcome Hall to the community. Miss Connecticut even rode in the parade. Then he and his fiancee get to see the place for themselves.
Hall had a look on his face that can best be described as “overwhelmed,” and the folks behind this charity never get tired of that look.
“They don’t know what they’re going to do for their home,” Rogers said. “Building Homes for Heroes says we’re going to give you a home, and suddenly they have a home and it changes their life forever.”
“I…I’m speechless right now. It’s unbelievable,” said Hall.
He may be at a loss for words, but when it comes to heroes, actions always speak louder than words, anyway.