Disabled vet to receive specially outfitted home

Brandon Rethmel and Sylvia Rethmel JIM AUSTIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Brandon Rethmel was only a high school student when 9/11 occurred —and he and other U.S. citizens realized their country was no longer safe from a terrorist attack occurring within its borders.

His school was just 30 minutes from the Pentagon at the time, and Rethmel knew several classmates who had lost one or both parents when the plane hit the military complex.

He felt anger that day — and when he got off the school bus near the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia, and saw soldiers outside the gates preparing for whatever came next, he thought, “I want to do that.”

As an adult, he did decide to serve, and joined the Army.

Sgt. Brandon Rethmel was deployed to Afghanistan with the 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. But he was only in Afghanistan for seven days, working at a Special Forces compound in Bagram, when a 107mm rocket hit his guard shack on June 21, 2009. In the blast, Rethmel lost his right leg below the knee, suffered hearing loss in both ears, a traumatic brain injury and sustained right arm limb salvage (removal of the damaged part of a limb while preserving what remained).

Brandon Rethmel at center with the Patriot Guard Riders who escorted him to the ceremony at New Life Church. JIM AUSTIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Now, 15 years after serving, Rethmel will be on the receiving end. Homes For Our Troops, a national nonprofit organization, is building a specially adapted home for him in Punta Gorda to help him better navigate his disabilities and improve the quality of life for him and his family. In the spring of 2025, he and his wife and three children will become new residents of Charlotte County.

The kickoff community ceremony was held in May.

“It still feels like a dream, like it’s not real,” Rethmel said in an interview from his home near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Homes For Our Troops is a publicly funded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 veterans to enable them to rebuild their lives.

Dianne Travers and Jere Gunderman.

Tom Landwermeyer, president and CEO of the organization, is himself an Army vet of 33 years.

“These veterans are incredibly humble,” he said of the recipients of homes from Homes For Our Troops. When they describe being injured, it’s like they’re talking about “a bad day at the office,” he said.

A statement about the organization says: “Most of these veterans have sustained life-altering injuries, including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The homes restore some of the freedom and independence our veterans sacrificed while defending our country and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.”

Even though it is a charitable organization, “I don’t believe what we do is charity,” Landwermeyer said. “We take care of veterans who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy our freedoms.”

It was a rough go for Rethmel and his family after the injury. The aftermath held depression and addiction, then support and redemption.

Mayor Lynne Matthews addressed the audience attending Brandon Rethmel’s kickoff event inside New Life Church.

Rethmel spent 360 days at Walter Reed Army Hospital (he vowed he would get out of the hospital before a year).

He wanted to stay in the Army “Because I still love my country,” he said. “I love the camaraderie. I mean, everything involved with it. It’s a brotherhood that you just can’t find many other places.”

But Rethmel did not like the jobs he was offered as an amputee. He left the Army on a medical retirement and eventually spiraled downward into depression, alcohol and pills. After going to rehab to overcome his addiction, and attending another program for veterans suffering from PTSD, he became involved with Operation Heroes Support, an organization started by fellow veteran Army Sgt. Charles “Doug” Harris.

The support group introduced him to hunting and fishing, and Rethmel began to come out of his spiral. Harris also had a home built by Homes For Our Troops, and this was the first time Rethmel had heard of the organization. He applied.

Charlotte High School Junior ROTC Leland Sung and Haley Reyes presented the colors.

Now 37, Rethmel and his wife, Sylvia, have three children: Mariah, 16; Trey, 13; and Marcus, 10. He is a stay-at-home dad while his wife is going to nursing school.

Their current home, a typical split level, has stairways, doors that are too narrow to fit his wheelchair, carpets and other features that make living difficult for a person who lives with a disability.

The new home will feature more than 40 special adaptations, such as widened doorways for wheelchair access, a roll-in shower, and kitchen amenities that include pull-down shelving and lowered countertops. The home will also alleviate mobility and safety issues, including navigating a wheelchair through narrow hallways or over thresholds, or reaching for cabinets that are too high.

Homes For Our Troops builds these homes where the veteran chooses to live, and continues its relationship with them after they move in to assist them with rebuilding their lives.

Rethmel wanted to live in Florida. He was open to any part of the state but was hoping for Southwest Florida. He got it.

The organization provides homes to veterans from any branch of service who were injured in the theater of the Iraq-Afghanistan war post-Sept. 11, 2001. They must be retired or in the process of retiring from military service.

To qualify for a home, a veteran must be approved for the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) benefits by the Veterans Administration. These benefits are provided to veterans with severe physical injuries that cause loss of use of two or more limbs or are blinded. Homes For Our Troops provides homes primarily for veterans who have one or more amputations, full or partial paralysis, burns, loss of sight, severe traumatic brain injury or a combination of these injuries.

When applying, Homes For Our Troops also conducts a criminal background check and a financial review, which includes the last three years of taxes and banking.

Homes For Our Troops has built 379 homes since its inception in 2004. Landwermeyer said they are on track to donate their 400th home in Texas in September. The organization relies on contributions from donors, supporters and corporate partners to build each veteran’s home. Community members may hold fundraisers or make donations. ¦

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