Vets Helping Vets: 'I can hardly believe it's my own home!'
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LEBANON, Ore. -- One veteran family gets the surprise of their life on Saturday when some fellow vets lend a helping hand to renovate their home.
Chris Engwall, a widow of a Korean War veteran has lived at the home for 35 years.
Since a team of builders from the non-profit Vets Helping Vets set to work renovating the house, Engwall said that she can hardly recognize it.
"I can't hardly believe it's my own home!” said Engwall.
Engwall recently suffered a spinal injury that required surgery in September.
"When I woke up I could not walk. My right … was absolutely like paralyzed,” said Engwall.
At the end of her 3-month hospital stay Engwall came home to a brand new home. Victor Kuhns and his team of volunteers with Vets Helping Vets renovated her home to make it wheelchair accessible.
"Chris's husband is not here, but we're honoring him in taking care of her,” said Kuhns.
Engwall said that she raised the kids while her husband served in the Korean War.
"We were married November 11th, Armistice Day 1950. 57 years and 5 days we were married,” said Engwall.
Chris's daughters, Wendy and Tana, started on the renovations themselves while she was in recovery.
“It’s like 2 women trying to do a house and we couldn't do it by ourselves and so we needed other men to help,” said Wendy Rench, Engwall’s daughter.
Wendy and her husband live 1,000 miles away...and Tana's husband is fighting his own health battle … so Vets Helping Vets stepped in.
“When they said yes, I cried. I really, really cried. It was such a relief,” said Tana Nicholson.
"There’s no dues to our Organization … its just having a lot of heart,” Kuhns said.
As well as love, for what military members and their families have sacrificed for our country.
The Engwall family said that the National Guard was a huge help in the project as well.
Yeah its too bad their own government won't take care of them, of course the U.S. Government has always lied! They don't give two Sh*** about our veterans or the the men and women currently fighting on two fronts! And because of these men and women before and currently; are the very reason this government is able to carry on business, (albeit bad business) at all!
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Our Veterans have always gone above and beyond the call of duty.They deserve respect and honor.
Thank you Nicole & KVAL for sharing our Mom's story. We are so grateful from the bottom of our hearts. I pray that our story will help get the word out on this amazing non profit organization & how they helped bring my Mom, our Grandma & Great Grandma back to a safe wheel chair/walker safe home after she sustained an injury during her serious spinal surgery on Sept 20th, 2012, that left her legs & feet numb and unable to walk now. They have given us so much hope & complete joy and have shown us that there are still amazing angels disguised as Veterans & Home Depot employees! Â God bless each one of them!