‘Never thought it would come to me:’ Volunteers help Kissimmee Army veteran fix his home

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – U.S. Army Veteran James Mead, 75, was all smiles as he watched volunteers with Home Depot and The Osceola Council on Aging work on his home in Kissimmee.

“It amazes me that people come around and do this. I’ve seen it on TV before but never thought it would come to me,” Mead said.

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From landscaping to painting, Mead said his mobile home needed a facelift.

“It’s really amazing to pull a group of people together to be able to help out our local veterans and what’s more impressive is that we have veterans here that work at our store and it’s nice to have that full circle,” said Ron Potvin with The Home Depot in St. Cloud.

Mead told News 6 he’s most grateful for the new ramp that volunteers recently built for him outside his home.

“Back in January 2018, I had a bypass and ever since then I haven’t been able to walk steps. So, every step up and down hurts and I’ve been doing it for years,” Mead said.

Mead was a specialist in the U.S. Army after he was drafted in the late 1960′s. He then spent 13 months in Vietnam.

“When I got to Vietnam, I got put in an artillery unit up in the Cambodian border. It was bad base, but I was in a base,” Mead explained.

Mead said he spends most of his time at home but loves to go fishing on the lake which he’ll be able to do so again now that he can walk on his new ramp.

“They just figured out how to make my life easy. When you get old your life gets harder, harder and harder and these last couple of weeks it’s gotten easier, easier, and easier because all these people showed up to help,” Mead said.

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