TOM'S STORY

Tom is a disabled Vietnam combat veteran who has spent much of his life overcoming hardship. He grew up in poverty and experienced abuse in foster care in rural Pennsylvania. At 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Vietnam.
 

When Tom returned home, there were no celebrations or thank-yous waiting for him. He went to work in a quarry, lived modestly and spent much of his life simply trying to make ends meet. Today, he lives with significant health and mobility challenges, some believed to be connected to his exposure to Agent Orange during the war.
 

Tom also has no family nearby to help care for him. That’s where we came in.

Jeremy, an Army Sergeant Major, met Tom by chance while serving as his escort on the Buffalo Honor Flight in 2023. What began as one day honoring a fellow veteran became a genuine friendship. We’re Jeremy and Kelly, and somewhere along the way, we like to say we adopted a veteran named Tom.

Tom doesn't ask for much. He likes going to church and his PTSD support group. He loves to fish. On nice days, he’ll go to the park just to sit outside and watch people play pickleball. These simple routines give him connection, purpose and independence.
 

But when Tom’s old truck was repossessed, much of that disappeared.

Without reliable transportation, getting to church, attending his group, going fishing or simply spending an afternoon at the park became incredibly difficult. It’s a painful irony: a man who once risked his life fighting for freedom now has very little freedom of his own.