Military support group gives Army amputee a new home

Since the onset of the Iraq War in 2003, Las Vegas lawyer Joe Brown and his legion of donors and veteran supporters have been there to help the families of Nevada soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen who were killed or severely wounded in combat.

The Nevada Military Support Alliance, which evolved from the Nevada Patriot Fund, was there again March 30 to celebrate the homecoming of Army Sgt. Tim Hall to his new home in Hawthorne.

With a $250,000 check from the nonprofit alliance and help from the Home for Our Troops organization and volunteer labor, they built “a gorgeous house,” Brown said. It meets the special needs of Hall, who lost both legs three years ago in a mortar attack in Afghanistan.

The house is on the outskirts of the tiny Northern Nevada town , a couple of miles away from where Hall’s family lives.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Brown, vice chairman of the alliance and one of its founders. “I’ve been involved in a lot of charities, but this one gives me a better feeling inside than any.”

Wearing sunglasses and sitting in his wheelchair, Hall, 23, rolled through the front door to the applause of a throng of family, friends and fellow veterans.

“You could see tears coming down from under his glasses, and he had a huge smile on his face,” Brown said Friday, reflecting on the event.

Chairman Perry Di Loreto said veterans and supporters of the alliance “understand what’s going on. They understand the sacrifice and how important it is for us to reach out and support soldiers such as Tim Hall.”

With a similar house built for double-amputee Marine Sgt. Kenneth “Dylan” Gray of Wellington, it was the second time in two years the alliance and Home for Our Troops have built a specially adapted home for a wounded Nevada war veteran.

At the March 30 home-opening event, Hall said the design of the house, which includes a special bathtub, will help him at “getting back to being independent.”

“It has all the bars around for me to grab on to get into it, so that helps a lot,” he told Reno television station KRNV.

To make donations and learn more about the alliance go to www.nvmilitary
support.org.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.