U.S. Vet General Contracting serves WWII vet in act of kindness
A McFarland company that made the news in mid-December after winning a prestigious governor’s award is back in the news again.
Lisa Benitez, a woman who watched the original news story we did, contacted U.S. Vet General Contracting for their services after seeing the story about them air.
Benitez needed her bathroom remodeled to accommodate her father, whom she looks after.
“My dad had a stoke three years ago so my dad is not able to walk,” Benitez said.
Benitez’s father, Edward Neese, is 95 years old and a veteran. Neese served in the Air Force during WWII.
“I’m very pleased that they’re doing this for me,” Neese said.
For the past three years, Neese has been in a wheelchair, making it difficult for Benitez to get him in a shower that had elevated flooring.
“When you love someone and you care about them and it just comes from your heart, it’s as much joy as it is work,” Benitez said.
The president of U.S. Vet General Contracting, Matt Bell, said when he first heard Benitez’s request for service, his initial response was “we don’t usually do residential requests. We do commercial.” However, after hearing about Neese’s current health condition and knowing he was a vet who had obviously been through a lot, Bell reconsidered after evaluating the project at hand.
“He’s a World War II vet. There’s not too many of those left,” Bell said. “I have respect for my other veterans, but especially my World War II veterans and just what they went through. A lot of them didn’t see their families for four or five years.”
Neese’s story touched a soft spot in Bell’s heart so he decided to do the work completely free of charge.
“He said, ‘We’re just going to do it for you,’ and my eyes just welled up with tears and I thought , ‘Oh, what a gift,'” Benitez said.
For Bell, this isn’t necessarily a gift in his eyes. He said it’s more about about veterans serving veterans, and in this case, it’s making this bathroom wheelchair accessible for Neese.
“I go by one rule and it’s one major rule. Do the right thing,” Bell said “This seemed like the right thing to do.”
Bell said the bathroom is expected to be complete at the end of the week.
“It’s going to be so much easier and something I won’t worry about anymore,” Benitez said.
DO SOMETHING GOOD: I love doing feel-good stories like this one! Find out why this #McFarland woman is giddy with joy TONIGHT on #News3. pic.twitter.com/GN9ZfV267t
— Jamie Perez (@JamiePerezTV) January 10, 2019
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