UPDATE: Vietnam Veteran finds a home

MOSINEE, Wis. (WSAW) - Vietnam veteran Terry Ashenbrenner has found a home after more than a month of living from hotel to hotel. And, it wouldn’t be without the people who heard his story.

“This is a good new year for me...things are looking up,” Terry said, as he laid back in his rocking chair. “I’m not used to so much room.”

As soon as people heard about Terry’s story, the emails and phone calls started flooding in. “There [are] so many people I need to thank here,” he said, as he was looking down at his long list of people who helped. People who reached out range from just people within the community to The Man of Honor Society. All looking for ways to help.

But, all Terry wanted was a home, which he got with the help of his new neighbor, Richard Peterson. “When I first found out about it, I started looking for houses,” Richard said, who is also part of the Veteran’s Weekly Cup of Coffee at Denny’s. “I told them about Terry’s situation and so I called Terry and told him to get over there right away.”

So, Terry did just that.

“It’s an uplifting time, especially during the holidays, to have him in a house instead of in a hotel, it means a lot to me,” Richard said. Which is his way of life. “I feel for people and God’s blessed me and I like to help out other people.”

“Look at the smile on my face, I haven’t been this happy in a couple of days...this showed me people...still...have a heart and want to help other people,” Terry said.

“Happy new year everybody, this is a great new year for me, I hope everyone out there has a new one too,” he said as he stood in his front door’s doorway.

Terry explained so many people helped him, from paying for extra nights at hotels to looking up places to live, he said he was grateful.

Copyright 2021 WSAW. All rights reserved.