Co-headliners Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich, during their Sept. 8 concert at The Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel, surprised Air Force veteran Shaun Meadows with a new house from their own proceeds from the Nashville performance and with help from Operation Finally Home.
A member of the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, Meadows lost both legs in July 2008 during a combat reconnaissance patrol in Afghanistan when he was hit by an improvised explosive device. Last year, he became the first active-duty double amputee in Air Force history to successfully perform a personnel drop, or skydive.
During the sold-out concert, which was part of the in-progress Xtreme Muzik The Tour, an Air Force Color Guard entered the stage, as the band played a Jimi Hendrix-style "Star Spangled Banner." The artists introduced Meadows, his wife and son, and WSMV news anchor Jonathan Martin gave them the big news that a custom-built new home worth $300,000 will be constructed in the Nashville area beginning in November.
Award-winning builder Goodall Homes has committed to build the home and Nashville-based LP Building Products will serve as lead sponsor, donating materials for the project. The home build can be followed on FinallyHomeTN.com or at Facebook/FinallyHomeTN.
Prior to the concert, Big Kenny, Chief Master Sgt Steph Page and Meadows, along with Team Fastrax Professional Skydiving Team, kicked off the evening by skydiving high above the venue and landing in the meadow at Fontanel.
Operation Finally Home is a nonprofit organization that provides custom-made homes to wounded and disabled veterans as well as to widows of the fallen in an effort to get their lives back on track. Run by retired U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Daniel Vargas, Operation Finally Home, based in out New Braunfels, Texas, is a program that was born out of the Bay Area Builders Association Support Our Troops program.
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