Memorial Day Weekend Dedication

to

Huntington's Hometown Hero

Lt. James Byler

Greenlawn Memorial Park

Saturday, May 28, 2011

11:00 am - 8:00 pm

For more information on the event please visit :  http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.com/huntington/little-league.htm

Charity Benefit at The INN

On Saturday May 21, Building Homes For Heroes hosted a charity event at The Inn in Long Beach. It was a great day! Thanks to all who came out to show support.  Here are some of my pictures from the day.

Staff Sergeant Josh Forbess

Just two days after his 18th birthday, Josh Forbess joined the United States Army. Forbess, like many American boys, spent a good portion of his youth on the athletic field. He played varsity football and wrestled for Eisenhower High School in Decatur, Illinois. Upon realizing that the NFL was merely a pipe dream, he enlisted in the military. He found out quickly that he loved it.

Forbess was assigned to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, an element of the 101 st Airborne Division. On November 15, 2003, Staff Sgt. Forbess was in a Black Hawk helicopter flying over Mosul, Iraq, when it collided with another Black Hawk. He was one of only five survivors and the only survivor from his section.

When the surgeon first treated Forbess at Brooke Army Medical Center, a modern state-of-the-art, 450-bed health care facility in San Antonio, Texas, he was covered in soot after the helicopter crash. An examination using a camera and fiber optic cable showed that his lungs, which should have been pink, looked like the inside of a chimney. Forbess suffered severe smoke inhalation and broken bones in both of his hands.

Forbess developed pneumonia soon after arriving. In fact, doctors had to turn him on his stomach to improve oxygenation, a last-ditch step used to save victims with extensive lung damage. He was kept on a ventilator for two weeks because of the severity of the smoke inhalation and spent nearly two months in ICU.

About eight or nine weeks after the accident, Forbess was told of the helicopter crash. After extensive rehabilitation and numerous surgeries, he had to learn to walk again and become self-sufficient. Because the crash left him with severe burns to his face, head, right shoulder and right arm, he has undergone a series of surgeries and skin graphs to rebuild his nose and ear.

Forbess was battered, but far from beaten. He was married on September 3, 2005. He remains on active duty.

All information provided by: http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/hero-stories/josh-forbess.htm

Sergeant Mary Herrara

Sergeant Mary Herrara of the 855th Military Police Company of the Arizona National Guard, was wounded on November 8, 2003 near Fallujah. Herrera was the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon gunner for the lead Humvee in the platoon when her convoy was ambushed by rifle fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mines. She was struck by two AK-47 bullets in the ambush. Her platoon was on a trainee transportation mission to Abu Ghraib Prison near Ramadi, Iraq.

Upon entering a safer area, where each of the convoy vehicles provided reports of what happened, Herrera started to feel disoriented and noticed a loss of sensation in her right arm. It was later found that Herrera had been hit after firing about 10 rounds of ammunition.

Herrera attempted to let another soldier know that she had been hit, but she maintained positive control of her weapon to help protect her fellow members during the final moments of the ambush.

The convoy rushed Herrera to the nearest emergency medical service facility, which was about five miles away. She spent about 25 minutes in the emergency room, where doctors discovered she was hit by the two AK-47 rounds that broke two bones in her forearm and pierced her biceps. Once pins and rods were placed in her forearm and she was stabilized, she was flown by helicopter to Fallujah, Iraq, where doctors seemed certain that she was going to lose her arm.

According to Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, of the Arizona National Guard, Herrera is the bravest person he has ever seen. Herrara did not complain or cry even though she received no painkiller for more than 30 minutes after she was shot. Rataczak refers to Herrera as a true example of a modern citizen-soldier.

After returning to the United States, Mary Herrera was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received as a result of enemy or hostile action. Herrera did not lose her arm due to extraordinary surgical efforts, and she received numerous surgeries, skin grafts and physical therapy at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Doctors do not believe Herrera will regain full use of her arm, and she will not be able to continue serving as a military police specialist

Herrera is currently attending college, with a major in social work, while selecting criminal psychology as a minor. Due to her story and her example, the state of Arizona has recently passed a bill in her name that will authorize tuition waiver scholarships to National Guardsmen and women who received a Purple Heart or were medically discharged due to injuries while serving in the military after Sept. 11, 2001. The bill is affectionately known as the Mary Herrera Bill.

All information provided by: http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/hero-stories/mary-herrera.htm

Petty Officer Pete Herrick

Pete Herrick, a self-employed, highly-skilled carpenter, became a Naval Reservist in 2001, just six weeks prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. Herrick felt that joining the military as a Reservist would be a good way to supplement his income and would provide his wife and two children with additional financial security. He didn’t anticipate fighting America’s War on Terror.

In March of 2004, Petty Officer Herrick’s unit was mobilized at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. After a month of training in Mississippi, Herrick found himself in Kuwait, then Ramadi and finally Fallujah. Herrick’s unit, the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB), was assigned to convoy soldiers and materials between bases. On its very first mission, the unit fell under mortar attack, leaving five of the platoon dead and 33 wounded.

Herrick was first taken to Baghdad and then he was flown to an intensive care unit at a military medical center in Landstuhl, Germany. Once Herrick was stabilized, he returned to the United States, attached to a mechanical ventilator that allowed him to breathe, and arrived at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. When he finally regained consciousness, his wife, Diana, was by his side.

Herrick, a resident of Fort White, Florida, had multiple wounds to his right arm and leg; his left leg had to be amputated. One piece of shrapnel lodged in his lung, while another caught him in the neck, damaging his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

The next stop for Herrick was a spinal cord and brain injury facility in Tampa. A high percentage of those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered debilitating brain injuries, after being victimized by improvised explosive devices (IED) and land mines. These medical facilities have intense programs, which are specialized for soldiers like Herrick to ensure that they receive the type of care geared to getting them to the most independent level possible.

Herrick was released from the hospital on May 11, 2005, more than a year after he was wounded. The family has received help from many hands. They have a specially equipped van, their mobile home has been remodeled, doorways have been widened, a roll-in shower installed, and a portable lift has been brought in to get Herrick in and out of bed.

Among the many steps forward Herrick has made is regaining the ability to breathe without a mechanical ventilator, which has given him his voice back. Herrick can wiggle his left thumb just a bit and operates his specially designed wheelchair (and an adaptive PlayStation) by blowing out puffs of air. He's learning to use a computer without the use of his hands.

All information provided by: http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/hero-stories/pete-herrick.htm

Staff Sergeant Jason Pepper

In 1995, New Jersey native, Jason Pepper, joined the United States Army. In December of the same year, Jason shipped off to Freidberg, Germany. Shortly after arriving in Germany, Jason and his unit, the 23 rd Eng Bn, was deployed to Bosnia where he and his fellow soldiers carried out a 12-month tour. That was Jason’s first experience in a hostile area and firefights.

When Jason and his fellow soldiers returned from their deployment in Dec. 1996, they had a lot of down time. In January 1998, the 23rd Engineer Battalion (Eng Bn) re-flagged to the 16th Eng Bn. In March 1998, the 16 th Eng Bn began its deployment to Bosnia to support Operation Joint Guard. Not long after returning from that deployment Jason met his wife Heather and they were married in Denmark on Feb. 12 th 1999.

Jason was sent on another deployment to Kosovo in 2000. The deployment was cut short due to a military move from Germany to Kansas. Jason was assigned to the 1 st Eng Bn in Ft. Riley, Kansas where he was deployed yet again for a 6-month rotation to Kuwait in 2001. A few months into the deployment, each soldier’s life would change forever due to the attacks on America on September 11, 2001. Jason was back in Kansas a few months later.

Jason received word that he would be going back to Germany around the same time he and Heather found out that they were going to have their first child. Because the due date of their child was for the same day they were to move back to Germany, the move was pushed up by a few months. Jason was again assigned 16 th Eng Bn in Giessen Germany.

Just two months before the baby was scheduled to arrive, Jason became very ill and ended up in the ICU for a week for kidney failure. As Jason recovered from his illness, everything was going well. Naomi Renee Pepper was born on October 1, 2002.

Just days before coming home on April 5, 2004, Jason’s 26 th birthday, the unit received crushing news. They were informed that they had been extended for another six months. They would also be moving from the green zone in Baghdad to Karbala. On May 1, 2004, Jason arrived in Karbala Iraq. He had taken part in numerous missions and firefights, but on May 7, 2004 at 8:37 am, the lights went out forever for Staff Sergeant Jason Pepper. His convoy had been ambushed. Jason saw a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) out of the corner of his eye and pushed two soldiers out of the way to return fire. The RPG flew over the M113 Jason was in. But, as Jason set to return fire, an Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) that was placed in a tree was detonated and blew up not even a meter from Jason’s face. Jason was thrown back and fell on top of one of his soldiers in a pool of blood. He was unable to see, talk or move and the only noise he heard was a high piercing sound.

His first thought was, “this is it, I’m dead…what about my wife and our daughter?” There was a chain of IEDs that went off, one right after the other. Everyone in Jason’s M113 froze. One of Jason’s long-time friends, who was in the vehicle behind Jason’s, called for a medic. Once it was safe enough, the medic was at Jason’s side. The medic thought Jason was dead until blood bubbles emerged from Jason’s nose. The soldier Jason landed on top of was also injured by a piece of shrapnel. Jason passed out while en route to 31 st CASH in Baghdad. When Jason awoke he was laying in a hospital bed with his brother, who was also deployed in Iraq, at his side.

When Jason awoke he still was unable to see and couldn’t move his upper body, but was able to speak. 48 hours after being injured, Jason was evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany. Heather was able to be at his side within three hours once in Germany. Jason underwent two surgeries within a four day stay at Landstuhl Hospital. Jason, Heather and Jason’s brother were flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on May 12, 2004. After landing stateside and being transported to Walter Reed, Jason was admitted to the ICU. A few short hours after arriving at Walter Reed, Jason was back in for surgery.

Jason has had 27 surgeries on his arms and eyes. Since Jason is at a very high risk of having a deadly allergic reaction while in surgery, the doctors thought it was best to do as much as possible as quickly as they could. So, while the hand surgeon would be working on Jason’s right arm and left hand, the eye surgeon would be working on Jason’s eye sockets, simultaneously. Jason has also undergone numerous procedures to keep his wounds clean. He has been in and out of the hospital at Walter Reed for over 18 months and is due back at the end of April 2006 for another hand surgery.

The IED blast that injured Jason left him without both eyes, with a piece of shrapnel, the size of a silver dollar, lodged into the right side of his brain, the loss of smell and taste and the loss of his left index finger. He has lost mobility in his left hand and has little to no feeling in the hand. Other ailments include a shattered right arm from elbow to wrist, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a traumatic brain injury, as well as numerous orbital fractures around the eye sockets. Jason’s left hand is badly deformed and he has developed very bad arthritis in his bones.

Jason has had hip surgery that took bone from his hip and placed it in his left hand. He also had a very large skin and tissue graft from his side and groin used to replace the missing tissue and skin from his left hand. This left Jason with nerve damage to his left thigh and arthritis in his right hip.

Jason faces each day with severe headaches, which range in severity from 8 to 10 (10 being the worst). He also suffers from short-term memory loss. Jason gets angry very easily and has severe mood swings. However, through it all, Jason has learned to live with most of the things he has had to face since that dark day in May.

He enjoys playing with his daughter and doing what he can to help out his wife around the house. Jason is still very uncomfortable around large crowds and can not be left alone for more then two hours at a time, but the Pepper Family is learning to deal with the life they have been given.

Jason and Heather found their dream home in Primm Springs, Tennessee and moved in during the spring of 2006. On October 29, 2006, the Pepper family welcomed a new daughter, Cheyanne Noelle Pepper, to the world.

All information provided by:  http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/hero-stories/jason-pepper.htm

Staff Sergean William Castillo

In 2007, while on a mission to rescue Marines who were under attack, Army SSG Castillo’s vehicle was struck by an IED. Despite head trauma and numbing throughout his body, he courageously continued to fight. While under heavy enemy fire, he fought his way back to the vehicle in an attempt to save fellow soldiers.

During the battle, SSG Castillo was shot five times; twice in the chest, once on the top of his head and once in the right leg. Still struggling to get back to the Humvee, he was struck again. This round struck him under the chin and exited out his mouth. As he reached the driver of the burning vehicle, an RPG struck the Humvee and severed his left leg above the knee. William was the only survivor.

For his courage and bravery, he was awarded The Purple Heart. Castillo has dedicated himself to help other wounded soldiers. William and his wife Katherine have four children. The Castillo family will be the recipient of a home provided by Building Homes for Heroes.

Orlando, Florida – Ocoee and Orange County firefighters join Building Homes for Heroes to build a home for a wounded veteran

Nearly 200 volunteers came out on Saturday March 6th to take part in the kickoff of a complete home makeover for wounded Iraq War veteran Army Staff Sergeant William Castillo on Enclave Drive in Orlando, Florida. The groundbreaking ceremonies followed a ceremonial parade of fire trucks and fire fighters; police vehicles and officers, guest of honor Army Spc. Robert "B.J." Jackson of Des Moines, Iowa, and community supporters.

Called upon to save wounded Marines, Staff Sergeant Castillo, who is a Purple Heart recipient, withstood five bullet wounds – including one that struck his head and one that exited through his mouth – after an IED exploded under his Humvee in Iraq. Still struggling to get back to the burning truck to help members of his unit, a missile cut through the vehicle – and severed his left leg. He was the lone survivor of the attack. While helping others, he survived two explosions and five bullet wounds. Now, the Orange County community is here to help him and his family. William and his wife Katherine have four children.

Taking part in the ceremony were firefighters from the Orange County and Ocoee fire departments, led by IAFF Local 2057 president George Romano, and IAFF Local 3623 president James Kelley. Also in attendance were local merchants, volunteer tradesman, corporate sponsors, and volunteers and onlookers from the Ocoee community. After the ceremonies and the commencement of the demolition of the home, there was a barbecue for the neighborhood, and all others involved, courtesy of Local 2057.

Among the major sponsors in attendance was The Just in Queso Foundation, the non-profit arm of Tijuana Flats. Just in Queso presented a check for over $46,000 to support the effort to convert the house into the Castillo family home. The renovation is expected to take six weeks.

All information provided by: http://www.buildinghomesforheroes.org/hero-stories/william-castillo.htm