Stafford County, Va. –– A military hero and his wife were given a new home Saturday, but it was a wedding dress and an unexpected proposal that would help make their new house a home.
Sgt. Jude Recendez and his wife, Kristine, were welcomed by nearly 100 volunteers from the Homes for Our Troops organization, who all worked to build a single-story home in the Queens Guard neighborhood in Hartwood.
Reciendez, 31, lost both legs while on a second deployment in Baghdad, Iraq in 2006. After returning to the U.S. to recover, he and Kristie had a civil marriage ceremony in California and then came to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to recover.
When they entered their new house Saturday, Kristie saw the wedding dress she had bought but was never able to wear hanging on the wall of the master bedroom. Jude, who is now aided two artificial legs, got down on one knee and proposed a second time.
She accepted, and within the hour was transformed and taken to her front yard where a wedding celebrant, reception tables and their family members were waiting to watch the wedding they never had.
“This whole experience has been overwhelming for the both of us. We’re just happy to have a home to call our own,” said Recendez.
The couple has known each other for 11 years, has two dogs, and plans to fill the extra rooms in their home with children “very soon.”
The Homes for Our Troops Organization was founded in 2004 and so far has built 100 homes for combat wounded veterans and their families.
