Vietnam Veteran With 3 Purple Hearts, Tugs Hearts of Community

He earned three Purple Hearts; now a community is rescuing his home
Pastor, Navy volunteers and Habitat for Humanity restore disabled vet's home in Orange Park
Jacksonville.com
By Clifford Davis
Posted: September 11, 2014

On the 13th anniversary of the day terrorists tried to tear the country apart, members of the military, state agencies, charities, a church and community volunteers came together to do what Americans have always done.

At the home of Vietnam veteran Joseph Gainer, a three-time recipient of the Purple Heart, workers buzzed around the home knocking out walls and tearing off shingles.

“I can’t believe it,” the 68-year-old Gainer said. “All my little money I get, I’ve put into the house already.

“I never could’ve done what they’re doing.”

Gainer volunteered for the Army in 1966 and continued to airborne training. He went to Vietnam as a squad leader with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.

Wounded on three occasions, he returned home and eventually medically retired from the city of Orange Park.

Now mostly confined to a scooter, Gainer’s home on Miller Street fell into disrepair. The porch had rotted and the roof was sinking in. But a chance encounter with a stranger eventually changed everything.

“Joe Gainer is the reason that my church is here,” said the Rev. William Randall of St. Simon Baptist Church. “He and his buddies were out front barbecuing one Saturday afternoon while I was driving around looking for property to build my church.

read more here