South Jersey Army veteran receives a new home for free from a national nonprofit
MAYS LANDING, N.J. (CBS) -- An Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient received a new home in Mays Landing for free.
Building Homes for Heroes, a national nonprofit, worked with its partners, including Chase Bank, to gift a mortgage-free house, retrofitted for accessibility, to Retired Army Sergeant First Class Richard Grimsley and his fiancée, Lydia.
"Tremendous appreciation for it," SFC Grimsley said. "It's emotional. I don't have words for it."
SFC Grimsley served in the Army for nearly 20 years, and during his service, he received the Purple Heart and several other honors.
"It was what I had always wanted to do throughout my life. My father served, and [I] dressed up in his uniform when I was 4, 5 [years-old]," SFC Grimsley said. "It was just, I don't know, a calling."
His duty to serve led him to Iraq where he was seriously injured when an IED, an improvised explosive device, went off.
He's been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a traumatic brain injury and several other medical conditions.
Building Homes for Heroes' Cody Brannon said SFC Grimsley's story is why they decided to gift him a mortgage-free home.
Brannon said they've gifted 354 homes to veterans.
"It's being able to give back to those who truly deserve it," Brannon said. "Those who sacrifice so much for our freedoms and our country."