February 20, 2015
LANTANA, TX – – Helping a Hero broke ground Thursday on a four-bedroom handicap accessible home for wounded warrior SSgt (Ret) Johnnie Yellock, USAF.
Yellock was a combat controller for the Air Force; he was wounded by an I.E.D. in Afghanistan in 2011.
“To date, Johnnie has had 30 surgeries on his legs,” Johnnie Yellock, his father of the same name, said.
“He’s classified as a double amputee. He swims. He bikes. He still skydives. I guess I would be remiss to say, yes ladies he’s still single.”
“I had an innate desire to serve this nation,” Johnnie Yellock explained. He, along with a team of others, broke ground on his house.
“Since I have been wounded, I’ve been called to continue on that service.”
Yellock is now serving as a Veterans Liaison for Helping a Hero.
“He really gives. It’s in his nature just to continually give back to the community,” Jeff Ragland, President of Helping a Hero, said.
“My wife and I would adopt him in a heartbeat.”
Even though mom, dad, and every person at the ceremony referred to Yellock as a hero, the humble veteran doesn’t consider himself one.
“The reason that wounded warriors never refer to themselves as heroes because our heroes are the people who are represented on my wrist,” Yellock explained.
Yellock is referring to his best friends, SrA Danny Sanchez and SrA Mark Forester, who were killed in action before he was struck by an I.E.D.
“These are friends of mine who were killed in Afghanistan. There are friends of mine who won’t get a chance to come home. They paid the ultimate sacrifice. They are our nation’s heroes. We are here to hopefully live on in their image.”
Source: Real Hero: Team Breaks Ground on New Home for Wounded Warrior