Houses presented to servicemen injured in Iraq

LEAGUE CITY — An insurgent shot U.S. Marine Cpl. Donny Daughenbaugh in the face, but he fought enemy fire for another hour before getting medical attention.

U.S. Army Sgt. Alexander Reyes walked over an improvised explosive device that sent him hurtling through the air, breaking bones and destroying muscles on the right side of his body.

Both men will call League City home for the first time after fighting for the United States in Iraq.

The Bay Area Builders Association built two homes in the Victory Lakes subdivision for the men and their families through the company’s Support Our Troops nonprofit organization.

The group builds and donates homes for wounded and disabled veterans and has built nine homes for servicemen and their families.

Wednesday marked the first time Support Our Troops gave two veterans houses at the same time, founder Dan Wallrath said.

“They haven’t paid for these houses in the traditional sense with a mortgage and monthly payments,” Wallrath said. “But believe me, they’ve paid for these homes.”

Reyes, of Miami, was injured by an improvised explosive device in March 2007 when his unit was patrolling in Baghdad.

He suffered a broken arm and had irreparable damage to muscles and nerves in his right leg, causing paralysis.

Once he regained consciousness, Reyes began to pray. Reyes felt no pain but thought he would die because of the amount of blood that surrounded him, he said.

Reyes went through rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and regained his ability to walk.

Reyes and Daughenbaugh, whose homes are 100 yards apart on Aztec Circle, will begin college classes soon to finish their degrees in liberal arts and business, respectively.

Daughenbaugh, of Bondurant, Iowa, in October 2004 was patrolling with his unit in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, when a vehicle sped up and opened fire on the unit.

A bullet shattered his left cheekbone and lodged between the base of the skull and top vertebra, missing vital nerves and his brain by millimeters.

Daughenbaugh killed the man who fired at him, shot himself with morphine and kept fighting enemy fire.

He underwent about 30 reconstructive surgeries and physical therapy sessions to regain speech. The .30-caliber bullet remains lodged in Daughenbaugh’s skull because it would have been too dangerous to remove it, he said.

Daughenbaugh still suffers migraines and seizures, but the future is looking up as his wife, Sarah, and two children prepare to move into the house July 2.

“We love it here in Texas,” Daughenbaugh said. “My wife and I are looking forward to driving around and getting lost.”