LINDEN – Staff Sgt. Eric Myers raised an American flag outside his new home, then leaned back in his wheelchair and, for a brief moment, admired the Stars and Stripes fluttering overhead.

The flag was raised before Myers, a combat-wounded veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, had seen the inside of the home specially built for him by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

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Tunnel to Towers, a New York-based organization named in honor of a New York firefighter killed on Sept. 11, 2001, has built more than 50 so-called “smart homes” across the nation. They are designed to make life easier for veterans who have suffered catastrophic injuries, such as the loss of limbs.

Myers, who lost his legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012, is the third North Carolina veteran to receive one of the homes.

Once inside his new home, the veteran was at a loss for words.

“It’s going to take a long time for this to become – to sink in and be reality,” Myers said. “This is just unbelievable.”

“I still don’t believe it, to be honest with you.”

The home features amenities designed to ease the burden on Myers and improve his quality of life. They include a bathroom and kitchen designed to accommodate his wheelchair, appliances that can raise and lower and features such as window blinds that can be controlled by remote.

That’s a big improvement from the family’s former home, which has an upstairs area that was largely off-limits to Myers and his wheelchair.

“The house we live in now, I can’t go to half of the house,” Myers said. “Here, I can go to 100 percent of the house and do whatever I want. It’s a game changer for sure.”

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The Tunnel to Towers Foundation presented the Myers family with their new home during a celebration Thursday.

The family was escorted to the home by veterans, police and firefighters. The road outside the home was lined with American flags. And a large flag blocked the home from view before the big reveal.

Local emergency personnel and soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg were present for the event.

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Jack Oehm, an ambassador for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation who is a retired New York Fire Department battalion chief, said the organization was welcoming Myers and his family home, while thanking him for his service, dedication and sacrifice.

Oehm lost 30 men on Sept. 11, 2001, as his firefighters worked to rescue as many as they could at the World Trade Center.

Today, he said, the organization honors the memory of those lost on that day by providing care for those who served their nation.

Jim Hodge, chief operating officer for Tunnel to Towers, said the Myers' home was the 56th built by the organization through its Building for America’s Bravest program.

The home was the latest built locally for a veteran in need.

In 2014, Tunnel to Towers welcomed Master Sgt. John E. Masson to his new home in Southern Pines. Masson, who served in the Army for 11 years, lost his legs and left arm after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

In 2016, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Thomas McRae moved into a smart home in Maple Hill. McRae, who served three tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, lost his legs, left arm and sustained injuries to his brain and the loss of sight in his right eye due to a blast in Afghanistan.

Other veterans with Fort Bragg ties also have received homes, including Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, an 82nd Airborne Division soldier who lost all four of his limbs in a blast in Afghanistan in 2012. Mills moved into his smart home in Manchester, Maine, in 2014.

Hodge said there was a standing goal to provide 200 homes to veterans in need.

Doing so will improve the quality of life for severely wounded veterans and help them fulfill their dreams and aspirations, Hodge said.

“We know, without Sept. 11, Staff Sgt. Eric Myers would not have been in harm’s way in Afghanistan and would not have been injured,” he said.

Myers was on his third deployment to Afghanistan when he was injured on May 12, 2012. At the time, he was serving as an artilleryman with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

A 10-year Army veteran at that point in his career, Myers lost both his legs above the knee and one finger and also suffered other serious injuries, including nerve damage in an arm.

Myers’ wife, Laura, and daughter, Kinley, were there to share in the awe over the new home.

Kinley, who also was celebrating a birthday, was greeted in her new room by “Rapunzel” and several birthday presents.

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Laura Myers said the new home was a definite improvement that would allow the family to live a more normal life. She predicted fewer burned elbows and other injuries in a home that is adapted to her husband’s needs.

She thanked the foundation and others who have supported the family.

Myers said he was at a loss for how to thank all those involved.

“There are no words that can describe the gratitude my family and I have,” he said. “A thank you will never be enough…”

“There’s no words,” Myers added. “What do you say to somebody that gives you a home?”

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Military editor Drew Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@fayobserver.com or 486-3567.