Medically retired Army Ranger Sgt. Matthew Watters spent a lot of time saying thank you last Saturday morning as he and his family were presented the keys to a specially adapted home custom-built by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit "Homes For Our Troops."
Those there to welcome him and his family into their new home said it should be the other way around.
Rincon Mayor Kevin Exley invited Watters to be grand marshal of the city’s annual Freedom Rings Parade in June, adding that the city will donate a paver in his name to the new Veterans Park.
“Everybody here should understand we’re in the company of a hero,” Exley said, thanking Watters and his family for choosing to live in Effingham County. “We’re truly in the company of a hero.”
Watters, wounded in 2003 in Iraq, lost a leg to a rocket propelled grenade while also suffering serious injuries to his arms. Since being medically retired, he has gone on to serve as 17 years as a police officer and bomb technician and now works for Daniel Defense in Black Creek.
“This is an amazing day,” he said. “I’m filled with so much gratitude. I never really thought I deserved this.”
The home, about midway between Rincon and Springfield in a neighborhood off McCall Road, sits on five acres and is fully ADA compliant. It includes features that make life easier for amputees – such as wider hallways for wheelchairs and concrete paths around the outside of the home, one of more than 400 built in the U.S. by HFOT. But there’s a need for more.
Exley noted the need for more housing for veterans and asked that residents support HFOT's effort, while Bill Ivey, executive director of HFOT and a retired Army Ranger colonel, urged those at the ceremony to spread the word. He said 90 percent of funds raised by HFOT go directly to acquiring land and building homes, and veterans chosen to receive the homes do not pay a mortgage but are responsible for taxes and insurance.
“And this is not a charity,” Ivey said. “This is a nonprofit. We help the American people repay their debt to these men and women who were severely injured while defending our freedom.”
For more information about HFOT, go to hfotusa.org.