Vermont town rallies around wounded soldier

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Vt. town rallies around wounded soldier

By Wilson Ring - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 4, 2009 9:57:56 EDT

HYDE PARK, Vt. — Greg Barnes is reluctant to say publicly what else he might need help with to make his home ready to accommodate the needs of his quadriplegic-soldier son because he’ll probably find it outside his front door.

Carpenters are donating their time, electricians have offered to do the wiring and concrete contractors have chipped in to build a foundation on what will become a handicapped accessible apartment for 21-year-old Andrew Parker that is attached to his parents’ home.

There have been car washes, a spaghetti dinner, bottle drivers and poker tournaments. A service group has donated a used handicapped accessible van; an architect designed, for free, the project to the specifications of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and a Web site has been set up to raise money and spread the word.

“I know there’s a lot of people who would like to help,” said Barnes, who didn’t ask for help after hearing his son had been wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan the day after Thanksgiving.

“I wasn’t expecting anything. So it’s kind of hard to take. I’m not used to that,” said Barnes, who had begun planning to convert his garage into an apartment for his son before the community got involved. “I’m not a person who’d expect anything from somebody else or even ask for it.”
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Vt. town rallies around wounded soldier