A Home For The Holidays...
Army Sgt. Pisay Tan's mother was a Cambodian refuge and as a way to repay this country for taking his family in during the Vietnam War he joined the United States Army.
Sgt. Tan served in Operation Enduring Freedom and even after losing both legs, hours of surgery and rehabilitation the twenty-five year old says he still believes no sacrifice is too big and describes his service as "the perfect opportunity."
Sgt. Tan is now officially a resident of Ridley, Pennsylvania thanks to what is likely the largest, best-decorated present anyone in the county will receive this year.
He joined his brother, Dara, and mother, Bo Mao, with hundreds of others for the official unveiling of his new home: a two-story single house built specifically to Tan’s needs by contractor The McKee Group and non-profit organization Homes For Our Troops.
Sgt. Tan, of the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, lost both his legs to an improvised explosive device while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq last August, but as his Army buddy Todd Bussard, of Atlanta, said, Tan never showed any bitterness or anger.
He's has been an inspiration to all who speak of him, including The McKee Group President Frank McKee, who considers Tan his personal hero."He is a treasure, this young man," McKee told the group gathered under tents for the unveiling. "He served all of us and now we get the wonderful opportunity to serve and do something for somebody who did so much for us."
Groundbreaking took place on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and construction followed at a break-neck pace with help from hundreds of volunteers and organizations.
"It took unbelievably generous donations of time, labor, material and money from many subcontractors and charitable contributors to make this home a reality," said McKee. "I’m very proud to stand before you representing this group of people who would put their heart and soul into building a house for a young man who gave his heart and soul to defend his country.
Our goal and our hope is that people see this from around the country and other builders help out fellow veterans and take care of them the way we have for Pisey. That’s the best thing that could happen. It is our dream."(source)
Another great story demonstrating the true spirit of Christmas...
posted by Digital Fortress at 22:38
9 Comments:
I had no idea that was going on. At first I thought it was about that show where they build people a house. It's good to know some people are giving back to our veterans who have given so much to us.
The last few touching stories about folks giving back to veterans have been really great. It's good to know that there are people out there that care about us even though the media doesn't seem to report that too much. It's really appreciated.
This is a great organization giving back to vets that were injured and couldn't continue to serve. Awesome story! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Good story, but where's my free house?
That is great - I didn't know anything like that was in place but what a great organization - they should do a cross-over with that organization and the TV show to make people aware of the effort. Thanks for sharing.
Great post, babe. I didn't know anyone did anything like this other than the tv show. Hopefully more of this is going on. It's sad it's not really talked about or known about. I would love it if they did this in our area somewhere. I could so see us volunteering to help!
That is a good story. From what I saw on the web site there is a guy from Texas that they are helping too, only he's not in our area. It would be great to volunteer and help though on any future projects if they come around here. It's almost as if the mainstream media is ashamed to publish anything good about soldiers.
That really is a great story. I am glad that all those people and organizations got together to show their support and appreciation for all the military has done for us.
I really liked this story a lot and I appreciate all the great comments from you guys.
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