A pro-veteran foundation led by Gary Sinise recently gifted an Army veteran and his family a free, brand-new home. Earlier this week, retired U.S. Army Sergeant Joshua Hargis, an Army Ranger and K9 handler who served four tours in Afghanistan, received a mortgage-free custom home thanks to the generosity of LP Building Solutions and the Gary Sinise Foundation. In his final deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom, Hargis sustained sever, life-changing injuries.
Gary Sinise Foundation Executive Vice President Jim Ravella said in a statement, “On behalf of our founder Gary Sinise and all of us at the Gary Sinise Foundation, we are incredibly grateful for our partnership with LP and the LP Foundation and for their commitment to joining us in honoring our nation’s veterans, including incredible heroes like Sergeant Hargis, who put their lives on the line every day defending our freedoms and our country.”
LP Vice President of Specialty Sales & Marketing Craig Sichling recently told Fox News, “The Gary Sinise Foundation does a wonderful job, LP is proud to be a partner of that foundation … this is our eighth home working with them, and we just dedicated the house.”
Sichling continued, “We were able to spend a little time with U.S. Army Sergeant Josh Hargis and we just had an opportunity to meet the family. There were a number of guest speakers, and we were able to provide them basically a home that’s a forever home for them. It’s designed and built for his special needs. He’s a double amputee. And we were able to not only build the house but turn it over mortgage free. So it’s really a very true, powerful, moving experience just to be involved in that dedication.”
“On October 5, 2013, I was tasked as a K9 Handler with my dog, Jany,” said Hargis according to a press release from the Gary Sinise Foundation. Describing the incident in which he sustained major injuries, he continued, “During a night raid, we were drawn into an area that was littered with buried IED’s (improvised explosive devices), and our targets had donned explosive vests that were concealed under their clothing.”
Describing the horrific incident that claimed the life of his fellow squad members, Hargis added, “Our unit sustained catastrophic injuries. Four members of our team died. My K9 companion was killed. Another soldier and I suffered battlefield amputations, and countless others suffered severe injuries.” Hargis lost both of his legs as a result of the IEDs.
Sichling maintained that the organization seeks to aid veterans who have sacrificed so much for the United States. “It aligns with our core values around housing and supporting our veterans, the ones who have given it all,” he said. “And it also allows us not only to have a national reach, but we also have been able to work in homes and communities where we live and where we have our operations.”
The LP executive continued, “So, it really meets twofold objectives for us: one is making sure that we’re addressing housing, because America is in shortage of housing, and certainly our veterans are in need of housing, especially the ones that have come back wounded. And it really falls in line with our building a better world and supporting, you know, housing and sustainability in America.”
Watch Trump’s plan to end veteran homelessness below:
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