Ashton Plantation subdivision should have a new resident by Christmas thanks to Destrehan builder Larry Tyson of Tyson Construction, his family and a few other good Samaritans.
Tyson, in conjunction with Southern Living Magazine and Operation Finally Home, a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to building homes for wounded, ill or injured veterans, are building a house for retired Sgt. Nathan Young, his wife, Tabitha, 11-year-old daughter Emme and miniature Schnauzer, Maggie.
“We got involved in this project after being invited into it by Southern Living Magazine,” Tyson said. “We’ve been in operation in the New Orleans area for nearly 25 years and we were very flattered to be asked.”
Tyson said it makes him and his family feel like they are doing something worthwhile.
While several organizations are involved in the project, Tyson is putting all the pieces together.
Operation Finally Home is responsible for finding candidates and paying the bills while Tyson handles subcontractors, finding the location and getting the project finished on time.
When asked why he cared to donate time and effort, Tyson’s answer was direct.
“Why did he volunteer and go over there?” he said of Young’s service as a tear rolled down his cheek.
Young, a retired seargent, wanted two things in life from an early age – to be a cop and join the military. He achieved both.
Young joined the National Guard while he was a senior in high school and then joined the Mobile, Ala., police force fresh out of high school.
“I wanted to be a cop since I was 17 years old,” he said. Young attended the Military Police Army National Guard in 1999 through 2010. He was on military police active duty when he was injured.
Young was deployed to Iraq in 2003 for 15 months and returned to his job as a corporal with the Mobile Police Department when he came home. He returned to Iraq in July of 2010.
By October of the same year, Young was on a Humvee patrol in Mosul in northern Iraq. When the vehicle approached two men walking alongside the road, they threw two Russian anti-tank grenades into his vehicle.
“All I can remember after that is the blast and being thrown around,” Young said. “I was in the hospital over there and they sent me to Camp Shelby, Miss., due to my injuries. I needed to be in a specialty unit.”
As a result of his combat injuries, Young suffers from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also has frequent migraine headaches and is compromised by torn discs in his back.
By February of 2013, Young was medically retired by the Army. He could not resume his work as a police officer. Now, Young’s just looking forward to settling down and relaxing.
It’s been a long way back and he is a quiet, humble person, according to Jennifer Brown, OFH Family Matters coordinator. “Nathan is one of those people who doesn’t care to call attention to himself,” Brown said. “He is the type of man, like many who have suffered similar situations, who doesn’t like to talk about it.”
Young and his wife learned they were getting a new home from Jahri Evans of the New Orleans Saints and his wife who, through their own foundation, are contributing to the project.
Tyson was the one who pulled off the ruse.
“We took them down there under the guise of just meeting some of the team,” he said. “ “When Green told him about the house, he just looked blank – like he couldn’t really understand what just happened.”
Young agreed.
“I was just so shocked,” he said. “I was completely surprised. They had me on the spot.”
Tyson said it gave him a feeling that can only be described as “totally wonderful.”
Operation Finally Home has been making wounded vets feel wonderful for more than 10 years.
According to Ronnie Lyles, Operation Finally Home project manager, the idea stemmed from an experience had by Operation Finally Home founder and board president Dan Wallrath.
“Wallrath was a building contractor who was asked by the father of a combat wounded Marine to help remodel his son’s house to accommodate the wheelchair-bound veteran,” Lyles said.
Wallrath did the job at no cost and it gave him the idea to start building homes from scratch with help from subcontractors, sponsors and donations. The nonprofit, created in 2005, has built nearly 100 homes in 29 states for wounded vets or surviving spouses of vets who died in action.
Young’s house is the first to be built in Louisiana.
Operation Finally Home works with the Veterans Administration to find candidates in need and place them in a vetting process to determine whether the candidate and his or her family needs to be in a certain place or just wants to be in a certain location like Luling, or if any of the other locations Operation Finally Home has built in.
“We are looking for people who need a hand up, not a hand out,” Lyles said. “Mr. Young certainly qualifies as that.”
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