Army Staff Sgt. Michael Brown of Huntsville was fighting in Mosul, Iraq in 2007 when a rocket-propelled grenade took his left leg. He has been fighting to recover fully since.
Brown said Wednesday he faced surgeries and therapy and wrestled with self-pity and grief when he thought he would spend his life a wheelchair. It got worse when he finally came home. He walks with the help of a prothesis and uses a wheelchair.
“When I got home and realized my hallways and doors weren’t wheelchair accessible and I had a much harder struggle in front of me,” Brown said. “I had a real heart-to heart moment with myself, had to swallow my pride and admit I needed more assistance.”
He got a big boost Wednesday. That’s when Helping A Hero foundation and a local business leader handed Brown, his wife Kim and his daughter Alyssa the keys to their new, custom-built, free house in Madison. It’s one of two that local builder Louis Breland and his wife Patti built free for the foundation. The first went to retired Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Scott Barkalow.
Brown is still on active duty based at Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal. Until recently, he could not except a gift worth more than $250 under Army regulations. But Congress and the Department of Defense created an exception to those regulations for troops ranked sergeant or below and wounded in combat.
Singer Lee Greenwood, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and Republican congressional candidate Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong were among those taking part in the celebration.
The program that led to the Browns’ new home started with a discussion sparked by Greenwood and took off when Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris challenged the group that became the foundation to build 100 free homes for veterans. Morris offered to pay 25 percent of the cost of each one.
The building push is officially called 100 Homes Challenge now and foundation President Meredith Iler said Wednesday she wants to build more of those homes in Alabama. “Send me names,” she said, referring to the website’s Nominate a Hero link.
Brown called his home “the figurative and literal key to our family’s future” as he talked about life after being wounded in battle.
“Life has a funny way of giving you the amount of struggle you need you – not what you can handle but what your path to growth can support,” Brown said. “I know at 22 looking at the newly amputated mess of a thing I call my leg, I was not prepared for the fight ahead.”
He thanked his wife Kim saying, “I owe virtually every and anything I am to you for standing by my side as I continue to work through this trauma thing.”
Brown said the home – “this blessing” – is much needed and appreciated. He can walk with a prosthesis but also uses the chair. “I may be too proud by half to admit when I need physical assistance,” he said, “but having this accessible home will preempt those worries from this day forward. Thank you.”
The event featured Greenwood singing his classic song “God Bless the USA.” Greenwood played a key role in the home by discussing the need for homes with the Brelands at a concert in Huntsville. When they realized there were two applicants from the area, foundation leader Iler said, “We have to do both of them.”
“Our veterans are incredible people who have sacrificed,” Breland said. “We wouldn’t be here without them.”
Breland said he travels around the world and people always ask what he’s learned from those travels. “What I learned is this is the most incredible place,” he said. “Every person that’s born with a U.S. passport is a very lucky person. You’ve got a fighting chance, and it’s because of our veterans.”
