Army vet holds key to a new life

Army vet holds key to a new life
Former President George H.W. Bush and Houston-based Helping a Hero presented Staff Sgt. Rene Fernandez with a new Lake Houston home after the Army veteran suffered serious injuries serving in Iraq. click link for video


Army veteran presented with new home

By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 11, 2008, 6:41PM
During his decade in the Army — more than a year of it spent in Iraq — Army Staff Sgt. Rene Fernandez built a sterling military record. The Baytown soldier led more than 300 combat missions, trained in excess of 33,000 troops. For his diligence, he amassed a bulging duffel bag of honors.

In or out of the military, Fernandez's future seemed golden.

Then in April 2004, Fernandez's Humvee detonated a roadside bomb. The officer's body absorbed most of the blast, leaving him with brain injuries that, though not fatal, ensured a life of diminished ability and pain.

Thursday morning, Lake Houston-area residents showed Fernandez their appreciation.

As packed snow glistened on nearby housetops, scores of bundled, flag-waving, cheering neighbors lined the streets of Lakeshore Subdivision to pay tribute. Then, in a ceremony highlighted by testimonials to Fernandez's valor, former President George H.W. Bush handed the former Army officer the keys to a new two-story, four-bedroom home.

The house was provided by Helping a Hero, a Houston-based organization that helps veterans. The house, the ninth awarded to seriously injured vets, was built through the cooperation of Perry Homes and dozens of donors.
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