» A warm welcome:
Medal of Honor recipient injured in August crash needed updates to house, got cheering welcome
Wisconsin Medal of Honor recipient Gary Wetzel, injured in a motorcycle crash, returns to his renovated home in South Milwaukee.
It was a far different homecoming for Gary Wetzel than when he returned from Vietnam.
The South Milwaukee police and fire department escort, a couple dozen Patriot Guard motorcycle riders, children holding “Gary-thank you for your service” and “Welcome Home” signs, friends and neighbors waving small American flags on Wednesday.
Severely wounded in a helicopter crash and firefight that would lead to the amputation of his left arm, Wetzel had no such greeting when he returned in 1968.
Later, President Lyndon Johnson fastened the light blue ribbon holding the Medal of Honor around his neck for his heroism.
Last August, he was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash. After undergoing months of physical therapy, he spent a couple days at his South Milwaukee house at Christmas but quickly realized he couldn’t live in the 1950s ranch style home.
After he moved to the VA hospital in Albuquerque, N.M., in early January to continue therapy, the Gary Sinise Foundation got involved.
Wetzel’s wife Kathy said a fellow Medal of Honor recipient got in touch with actor Sinise, who readily agreed to pay for the renovations through his foundation.
“Nobody wants any recognition. No one wants to be thanked,” said Kathy Wetzel.
Contractors spent six weeks widening doors to 34 inches, gutting the kitchen, removing carpeting and installing wheelchair- and walker-friendly flooring.
The kitchen, where avid cook Wetzel spends a lot of time, was outfitted with new appliances, cupboards, countertops, flooring and recessed lighting.
Over the lunch hour Wednesday, his sisters Sue Simko and Kelly Fisler walked through the house as family members, friends, contractors and well-wishers filtered in.
“I’m excited to see his face when he sees it for the first time,” said Simko, who lives in St. Francis.
Added Fisler: “I guess this would be like his homecoming. I remember him when he got home from Vietnam laying on the couch and my mom changing his bandages.”
Wetzel returned to Wisconsin from New Mexico in mid-May and stayed at a local hotel paid by the Fisher House while his house was being renovated.
Some contractors refused payment, said Don Mitchen, project manager for Bartelt, The Remodeling Resource.
“There were so many good people who came together for this,” said Mitchen.
Though he went through therapy four times a day while he was in New Mexico, Wetzel said he probably will need to use at least a cane or crutch to walk for the rest of his life. Recovering from a broken pelvis, left shoulder and ribs, he initially doubted he’d walk again. But slowly he regained his strength.
Around 12:30 p.m., the sounds of sirens and honking Patriot Guard riders could be heard in the distance as an honor guard from the South Milwaukee American Legion and AmVets posts got into place at the end of the driveway. A pickup truck driven by a friend pulled up and Wetzel gingerly got out, grasping a crutch in his right hand.
He smiled, waved, greeted friends and hugged family members.
“In all honesty, this is a welcome home for me. When I came home from Vietnam I didn’t get a welcome home. This is nice,” said Wetzel, 69.
Wetzel donned eye shades as a friend pushed his wheelchair up a ramp into his front door. Wetzel, who was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, didn’t want to see his transformed home until he was in the kitchen.
He slowly took the shades off, looked at the gleaming new stove and refrigerator, the newly painted walls, the granite countertops, grinned and said: “Wow, wow, wow! Holy cow!”
Gary Wetzel was home.