Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Family Appreciates Home
HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS SPONSORS KEY CEREMONY
FARMINGTON —Many from the city of Farmington showed up Saturday morning waving American flags and welcoming the newest members to the community.
Sgt. Marshall Kennedy, retired U.S. Marine Corps, his wife, Chelsie, and their two young boys will live in a new home specially adapted to meet the veteran’s physical needs. Kennedy lost both his legs and suffered severe damage to his left arm after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Sangin, Afghanistan, in June 2011.
Homes For Our Troops sponsored a Key Ceremony to cut the ribbon and hand over keys to the new 2,600-square-foot home located in Twin Falls subdivision. The new home is provided at no cost to the family. Kennedy’s only obligation is to maintain the house for the rest of his life.
The one-story home has wood floors in every room, an open floor plan, large doorways, handicapped accessible bathrooms and a kitchen with special features for the physically challenged. For example, the kitchen counters are lower than normal height and the microwave is located below the counter so that Kennedy can use it without any problems.
Kennedy was almost at a loss for words when addressing everyone present during the Key Ceremony program.
“Words cannot describe how we are feeling” Kennedy said. “Chelsie and I are just ecstatic. I just can’t say enough.”
He thanked Homes for Our Troops and everyone who helped with the project, noting volunteers and assistance came from Farmington, northwest Arkansas and even other parts of the state.
“We’re just so happy. We can’t help it. We’re just so appreciative.”
While the handicapped accessible home was built specifically for Kennedy, he said it will be a big help to his wife and boys. Kennedy said he will be able to do things on his own, which means less work for Chelsie Kennedy and the boys in waiting on him.
Homes for Our Troops is a non-profit, nonpartisan national organization that builds homes for veterans who return from serving our country with serious disabilities and serious injuries. Kennedy’s house is the 135th home delivered to a veteran, according to Maj. Gen. Tim McHale, president of Homes for Our Troops.
McHale works in Washington D.C., and said Saturday he was always glad for the opportunity to leave the nation’s Capitol.
“This is the heartland and this is where the values are,” McHale said at the Key Ceremony program. “This is extremely heartwarming.”
He said the homes built by the organization are not an act of charity but a “moral obligation” of the country.
Col. Willy Buhl with the Wounded Warrior Regiment served as Kennedy’s commanding officer in 2004 in Iraq. He said Kennedy represented many thousands who have served during the nation’s longest period of war.
“In Marshall’s case, he showed endurance, courage and sacrifice,” Buhl said. “I know he was and is a brave man.”
Buhl said Kennedy’s greatest example of courage was in his recovery from his serious wounds in Afghanistan.
“It is the highest personal honor to have served with Sgt. Kennedy and to see him today, alive, intact and ready for action,” Buhl said.
A letter read from Gov. Mike Beebe described the home as a “token of America’s everlasting gratitude.” Another letter was from U.S. Rep. Steve Womack. Mayor Ernie Penn welcomed the family to Farmington.
After the ceremony, Chelsie Kennedy said she is thankful to the community and for its support of the family.
Both will attend the University of Arkansas to finish their degrees. Chelsie Kennedy already has been taking classes and Marshall Kennedy will start this semester.
Organizations participating in the Key Ceremony included Boy Scout Troop 102 of Fayetteville, American Legion Posts from several communities, including Siloam Springs, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Springdale, Bentonville and Bella Vista, the Patriot Guard Riders and Rolling Thunder. Others at the ceremony included students and staff from the Farmington School District, city of Farmington representatives and many veterans.