Purple Heart recipient visits under-construction “Operation Finally Home” in Leander

LEANDER, Texas - A purple heart recipient and his family were able to visit their under-construction home in Leander Saturday morning.

Those in on the build are already taking extra steps to ensure the home is filled with love. 

U.S. Army SFC Vaitogi Taetuli served his country through two deployments in the Middle East. Through his nearly 16 years of service, Taetuli survived five blasts from IEDs as well as multiple firefights. In 2004 Taetuli was in hand to hand combat with an enemy when a grenade dropped between the two of them and severely wounded him. 

Taetuli has since retired. He deals with PTSD, migraines and other injuries. As a sign of gratitude for his service, Taetuli and his family are being built a mortgage-free home by “Operation Finally Home” a non-profit and “Built to Honor,” a program run by the building company PulteGroup.

Today, they were able to walk through their almost completed home, and read warm wishes, written on the beams, by those affiliated with the projected. 

“Oh, it’s very emotional it was tough to hold the tears back, if you read some of them you can see how heartfelt they are,” said Greg Salinas, division president with the PulteGroup. 

The home is expected to be completed by March 2020.