MACOMB TWP. – Union masons in Southeast Michigan are among scores of tradespeople, contractors and well-wishers helping to build a new home for an Army veteran who lost both his legs above the knees during an explosion last year in Iraq.

Brick and tile masons from Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 volunteered their time and talents last month to clad a ranch home and install interior tile on what will be the new home for Army Spc. David “Alex” Knapp.

The construction of the home is sponsored by “Homes For Our Troops” – a nationwide group that arranges donations of materials, equipment and time from local contractors and skilled and unskilled volunteers to build homes for severely injured veterans. The group, established in 2004, coordinates “the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.”

The entire effort has been led general contractor Sam J. Palazzolo of Palazzolo Brothers Custom Homes and Vito Pampalona of Vito Anthony Homes and Building Co. The effort to build the home for Knapp on Downing Street has gathered momentum over the past year, culminating in the Oct. 30 weekend “Build Brigade” effort, that brought some 80 volunteers to frame the house and a put a roof overhead.

In subsequent weeks, bricklayers did their work on the exterior, and interior rough plumbing, electrical and other work has been going on. cement masons pour the basement, garage and driveway.

Tom Ward, an out-of-work Local 1 bricklayer, has led the effort in his trade to get masonry materials and volunteers lined up to brick the house. Last spring, he heard from a television report that  “Homes for Our Troops” was about to build a house in Southeast Michigan, so he called Local 1 Business Manager Mark King, who agreed that it would be a very good thing for Local 1 masons to help build the home.

“For me this is something positive we can do for a severely injured vet,” Ward said. “I didn’t serve (in the military) but this is my way of helping someone who did.” About 14 bricklayers worked the week of Nov. 9 to lay brick at the house, and a crew of tile masons came to the house last week, too. One of the bricklayers was journeyman Norm Stites. “This guy deserves it,” he said.

People and companies who volunteered to help the building effort are too numerous to mention here. But for the masonry, Mason Pro, Belden Brick, Wolverine Contracting, Thyssen Krupp, Safeway, Masonry Developers, Ram Construction Services, Chezcore and Monte Costella all contributed.

For the tile masons, contributing contractors/suppliers included Artisan Tile, Eldorado Tile, Virginia Tile and Genesee Tile.

“Anything we’ve needed, equipment, materials, has been no problem to get,” Ward said, adding that Kevin Ryan of the Mason Contractors Association has been a big help in getting the masons what they’ve needed.

Contractors in other crafts have also donated people and materials. Laborers Local 1076 members have helped clean the site. Ward said an investment banker and a real estate agent appeared at the site one day and asked “how can we help?”

“There has been an outpouring of support for a very good cause,” said Tom Saracino of Vito Anthony Homes. “Alex has been overwhelmed. It’s a great thing that has brought people together. It’s just a great group of guys here.”

Knapp’s new home will have wide doorways, lower windows and countertops, wheelchair- accessible bathrooms and an elevator to the basement. To date more than 30 such homes are being constructed around the nation. For more information go to www.homesforourtroops.org.

Knapp lost his legs in March 2008 when an explosive device blew up near the vehicle he was 20 miles south of Baghdad. He spent 18 months rehabilitating at Walter Reed Hospital. Now he’s back home in Michigan with his parents, who live in a quad-level home, which is not handicapped accessible. He has to struggle up stairs just to get into their home. His wheel chair doesn’t fit in his room, and he drags himself on his butt into the bathroom to use the toilet and shower.

“It’s exhausting,” Knapp said. “The fact that it’s going to be a single level house is just going to make everything so much easier for my future. Being able to move anywhere, do laundry on the same level, maneuver in the shower, not needing to wear prosthetics. 

“HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS” relies on numerous volunteers – and in this case, several from BAC Local 1 – to construct homes for injured veterans.