An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier's family

Now this kind of thing is what really shows them they are supported more than anything else a community can do!

An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier's family
By JIM McCONVILLE • STAFF WRITER • December 14, 2009


UNION BEACH — Soon, Army Staff Sgt. Michael Minard finally will have his own bed to sleep in.

Minard, his wife, Lynda, and their two children will take ownership of their new house next week. The one-story, 2,400-square-foot ranch was built by Homes For Our Troops, with the help of countless volunteers around the state.

The four-bedroom house, now in the final touch-up stage for its grand opening, is a roughly four-month labor of love that began Aug. 18.

For Minard, it's been a long and painful two-year journey since he was injured in Iraq.


Minard was on his third tour in Iraq in October 2007 when his legs were severely injured by an improvised explosive device detonated in the Sadr City section of Baghdad by the Stryker armored vehicle he was riding in.

Minard eventually was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He awoke in the hospital to find that his legs had been amputated above the knee as a result of the explosion.

Now nearly two years later, Minard finds himself perpetually stunned by the kindness of volunteers, many of them strangers, who have donated their time or money to help build his house, which is completely handicapped accessible, inside and out.
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An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier