Wounded veteran gets warm welcome from Bluffton community

Staff Sgt. Jey Johnson and his family felt a lot of love from the Bluffton community on Friday morning as they visited what will be their new home.

The boards in the home were lined with heart notes written by local school children. Neighbors and members of the community came out on Friday to write on the framework of the home.

The Johnson family is being given the new home in Bluffton by the Pulte Group through their Built to Honor program.

Johnson served in the army for 16 years and was injured during his last tour in 2006. Currently he lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his wife, three children, two grandsons and three Great Danes, but his family will be relocating to Bluffton when their new home is complete later this fall.

“We are so grateful for the welcome that we got today,” Shana Johnson, Staff Sgt. Johnson’s wife, said. “You never think that anything like this will happen to you. We still can’t believe it.”

Although the messages will not be visible after the walls go up, the family will always know that they are there.

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Wounded veteran gets warm welcome from Bluffton community."