HOUSTON – The music was loud, and the food was made to hit the spot, but a get-together in Fulshear in Fort Bend County wasn’t just any celebration, it was a gathering to honor a hero.
Ken Bowen was severely wounded by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan in 2009.
“My humvee ran over a landmine and received third-degree burns over half my body,” recalled the Purple Heart recipient. “I was the only survivor out of the humvee.”
On Monday, the Texas-based non-profit Military Warriors Support Foundation awarded Bowen with his very own home.
Bowen lives in Virginia, but Military Warriors have provided nearly 40 mortgage-free homes in the Houston area since 2007.
“These heroes provide us the freedom that we have,” said the foundation’s CEO & founder (ret.) Lt. Gen. Leroy Sisco. “You know that, and I know that, and we can’t ever forget it.”
Bowen is excited about his new home.
“My room’s kind of picked out,” he said. “I like to write, so I’ve got a writing room and I’ve got my books set up, and I’ve got a nice desk in there so it’s beautiful.”
A new home to say “thank you” for a service we should never forget.
“I wear, you know, the scars every day, so I have a constant reminder of those that aren’t here and how lucky I am to be here,” he said. “But I think a lot of people -- it’s hard for them to comprehend what some people have gone through.”
The foundation has given away 900 homes and 100 cars to wounded veterans. If you would like to donate to the organization, visit their website at www.militarywarriors.org.