CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. - Volunteers built a wheelchair ramp for a disabled Vietnam veteran and did yard work for three World War II veterans at a mobile home community in Cedar Springs.
The West Michigan chapter of Purple Heart Homes, a nonprofit that provides housing for veterans with service-connected disabilities, installed the ramp for William Gregones, who served in Vietnam aboard the USS Tripoli (LPH-10).
The ramp is the first of Purple Heart Homes' "Dale Beatty Memorial Ramp Program," named after the organization's co-founder who died suddenly on Feb. 12, 2018.
"There's no way I could've done it," Gregones said. "And they came in, and they're doing it all at once."
More than two dozen volunteers from Purple Heart Homes, Home Depot and other local organizations worked on the project at Gregones' home in the Cedarfield community. The ramp was completed in under seven hours.
In the planning process, Purple Heart Homes discovered three World War II veterans who also live in Cedarfield. Some volunteers trimmed hedges, mowed lawns and power washed their homes during the ramp construction.
They fought for freedom, and most of them are disabled or became disabled fighting for freedom, said Shonda Prow, vice president of Purple Heart Homes West Michigan.
"The most we can do is give back to them," Prow said. "It's more of a respect thing than anything, letting them know that regardless of the situation, we care."
Clarence Carlon, who served in the "Hell on Wheels" Second Armored Division during World War II, said he was so grateful for the help, and the company.
"It shows you what America's really about now," Carlon said. "You kind of wonder sometimes, but they're proving it's still here."
Purple Heart Homes has funds secured for a second ramp and plans to build many more in West Michigan, said Project Coordinator Doug Pickel.
"Seeing their smiles, and for some of them you can almost see them tear up—you get goosebumps to know" said Secretary Johnnie Trout.
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