JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - After being knocked unconscious from an IED in Iraq, a retired military staff sergeant and his family are one step closer to being 'finally home'.
Lot 70 in Aragona Village doesn’t look like much, but for Staff Sergeant Vince Gizzarelli and his family it’s a new beginning.
“Until I walk through the doors to move my furniture into that place, I don’t think it’s going to be real until then,” said Vince Gizzarelli, a retired Marine veteran.
It was back in 2004 when reality hit Gizzarelli, during his second tour in Iraq, where an IED exploded, knocking him unconscious.
“I was a leader in the Marines and I didn’t want to show any weakness and I basically sucked it up,” said Gizzarelli.
Five years later, in 2009, Gizzarelli retired from the Marines after being diagnosed with PTSD and other related brain injuries.
“It’s just been up hill the whole way. It’s just been difficult every step of the way since I retired,” he said.
But now, things are changing.
Thanks to Operation Finally Home and the Wounded Warriors, the Gizzarelli’s were chosen to receive a new home.
The Gizzarelli home will be the first home organized by Operation Finally Home in North Carolina.
The lot where the home is to be built was provided by Jacksonville builder - Martin Aragona, Jr.
“This is just our way of giving back to a community that has been very good to us, not only economically, but as a nation - defending our freedom and fighting for us,” said Aragona, Jr.
And the family isn’t just getting a new home, but a new view as well. Just a short walk down the pier behind their home takes them straight to the water.
“I mean, it looked like we were going to be on this treadmill for awhile. But now, when this house gets built, that’s rent we don’t have to pay, that’s a mortgage we don’t have to worry about. And that’s going to go a long way, not just toward getting us on our feet, but allow us to take some steps forward,” said Gizzarelli.
“It’s going to be suitable for all the kids to grow up. To have a room of their own, it’s just amazing, it is, it’s a dream come true,” said Jamie Gizzarelli, Vince's wife.
The Gizzarelli’s have five kids, three of which they adopted.
Builders hope to have their home finished by early February.
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