PORT ST. LUCIE − Sue Crutchfield said she’s been in the area about eight weeks, remarking at feeling invited and welcomed by those in Port St. Lucie.
Severely injured during military service in Afghanistan, Crutchfield, 45, and her husband, Tim Crutchfield, 55, stood May 9 by the site of their new specially-adapted home on Southwest Indra Way in the Kenley community in Tradition.
“Everybody’s just been really, really nice here,” Sue Crutchfield said. “We met a neighbor actually already. She invited us to her church.”
Sue Crutchfield, originally from Tennessee, spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for the residence that’s being provided through efforts of organizations including Helping a Hero and Mattamy Homes.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Sue Crutchfield said. “I want tear up about it, too, because people want to help, people want to help, and it makes me really happy to know that we have that support out here.”
Founded in 2006, Helping a Hero is a non-profit organization that supports military members severely injured in the war on terror, according to its website.
Sue Crutchfield said she connected with Helping a Hero years ago when Meredith Iler first started the organization and expressed interest in building her a home.
“At the time I wasn’t ready, but she stayed in contact with me throughout the years,” Sue Crutchfield said.
Tim Crutchfield said he’s been working for Helping a Hero for close to a year. He said he and Sue started dating in 2021, and married in April 2022.
Sue Crutchfield’s injuries, which include losing both legs below the knee, came in 2006. Two others in her Humvee died, she said.
“Helping a Hero’s mission of empowering the wounded heroes one home at a time, it really aligns with our Mattamy core values,” said Jose Becerra, vice president of purchasing for Mattamy Southeast Florida.
Becerra said Sue Crutchfield wanted to ensure the doors were at least 3-feet wide, and she wanted an oversized tub. He said the rough market value of the home is about $600,000.
According to Helping a Hero’s website, the Wounded Hero Home Program requires the wounded veteran pay a minimum of $50,000 toward the cost in addition to a Veterans Administration Specially Adapted Housing grant. Other factors can vary.
What happened?
Sue Crutchfield said she joined the U.S. Army in December 2004, and went to Germany before deploying to Afghanistan in February 2006. A military police officer, Sue Crutchfield said she’d been there about 10 months and just returned from R&R when she was asked to be the gunner on an overnight mission.
“That morning we got up, I got the truck ready, got the satellites ready in the truck, got my gun loaded,” Sue Crutchfield said. “I had a .50 (caliber machine gun), made sure we had all the ammo, everything we needed, drinks. I was the mama of the truck.”
They were in the mountains and it was snowing heavily. She recalled fixing a neck gaiter over her face so she wouldn’t get so cold.
“I do remember a blast and I remember being hit really hard in my hips that I found out later that was a gunshot,” Sue Crutchfield said.
She was standing in the turret at the time, and said they were the lead truck. Two others were behind them.
“It was an ambush,” she said. “I got shot and then our truck blew up, that’s all I remember.”
She recalled being very cold, noting she was bleeding out.
“They thought I had died at first because I wasn’t awake. Then I came to and started screaming and they came to me to pull me out of under the truck,” Sue Crutchfield said. “I was stuck under this turret shield. The turret shield had took both my legs.”
She said they hit five land mines with rocket propelled grenades connected to them. Two others in her Humvee died instantly.
A helicopter couldn’t get her because conditions were too bad. She was taken by vehicle to Bagram Air Base, an eight-hour trip, stopping at a hospital to see if blood was available.
“They did not have O negative blood, so they gave me O positive blood,” Sue Crutchfield said. “My medic at the time said he just wanted to keep my body warm and give me a fighting chance.”
She said at the time she was a single mother with two children.
History in the area
It’s the second residence for which Mattamy Homes has partnered with Helping a Hero in the Port St. Lucie area, but the third that Helping a Hero has helped provide in the area, according to representatives of both organizations.
Becerra said he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2012 through 2016 in the logistics field, and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, though also was sent to Italy.
“I’ve seen firsthand the sacrifice that my brothers and sisters have been through and some gave the ultimate,” Becerra said. “I’m deeply grateful that Mattamy Homes empowers us to partner with Helping a Hero, and it’s a meaningful opportunity to give back in a way that honors sacrifice but with purpose.”
JP Lane, a U.S. Army veteran, and his wife, Crystal Lane, are ambassadors for Helping a Hero. JP Lane said he received a home through the program in 2014 north of San Antonio, Texas.
The Lanes spoke at the May 9 ceremony, standing at a podium with a large excavator and front end loader behind them. An array of American flags and Mattamy Homes flags fluttered in the breeze, as a jazz band from Tradition Preparatory High School was off to one side.
JP Lane said he deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, and was severely injured in 2011 in the Kandahar area when a 200-pound bomb blew up while he was in an RG31, a mine-resistant vehicle much larger than a Humvee.
Lane said he lost both legs, and had other injuries, including a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for a month and a half. He said his story is similar to that of Sue Crutchfield, noting both sustained severe leg injuries.
“Most of the time we’re in our house, we’re actually spending our time in our wheelchairs to get off our prosthetics,” he said. “So every doorway is needed to be widened. The hallways are widened, everything is just a much more open concept layout.”
JP Lane said recipients sign a contract with Helping a Hero indicating they will stay in the home for at least 10 years.
Crystal Lane said Helping a Hero has helped to build more than 200 homes in 27 states.
Teresa Young is general manager of Bass Pro Shops Port St. Lucie, and said Johnny Morris, the founder and owner of Bass Pro, pledged to donate 25 percent of the overall cost for 100 homes, and that this one is of those 100.
“It’s truly an honor the sacrifices that are made for our freedoms,” she said. “This home today can’t even give enough of my gratification for all that you’ve done for my freedom that I have and everybody else’s.”
Sue Crutchfield said she’s grateful and overwhelmed.
“It’s gonna be great and I’m happy I found my peace,” she said. “I’m able to plant myself and just know that I am where I’m meant to be.”
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Severely injured U.S. Army veteran provided new home through Helping a Hero, others
Reporting by Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
