OWINGS MILLS — There are countless ways to thank veterans for their service, but one non-profit went beyond thanks, to change a veteran's life forever.
Retired Staff Sergeant Martin Jones served 20 years in the Army, through the first Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 2005 he was severely injured when an IED blew up in front of his convoy. Today, he suffers from a traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and other ailments.
He received a purple heart and over a dozen other medals for his service.
His latest honor though he won't fit on a uniform or in a frame.
He and his family were handed the keys to a brand new home, mortgage free, thanks to the non-profit Building Homes For Heroes. They started after their founder, Andy Pujol, joined the efforts at ground zero on 9/11 and pledged to give back to those who serve and defend our country.
Andy just got with his childhood friends to raise money, just to get one home. That was all they wanted to do, get one home. They did it, it took a long time, but then they gifted another and another. And what turned into just gifting one home, has now turned into this giant patriotic network nationwide. Building Homes For Heroes is gifting and modifying one home every 11 days on average.
SStg. Jones applied for his home nearly 10 years ago and got a call just last month to see if he was still interested. He says he was floored when he first walked in. We asked what his favorite room was so far.
I have to say that master bedroom is, that's kind of high up on the list right now with that great big bathtub
SStg. Jones currently lives with his dog and granddaughter, who he says promptly layed claim to her room as soon as they got to tour.
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