Injured United States Marine Corps Veteran & Purple Heart Recipient ReceivesMortgage-Free Smart Home In Observance of Independence Day

Injured United States Marine Corps Veteran & Purple Heart Recipient Receives
Mortgage-Free Smart Home In Observance of Independence Day

On June 28, as America prepares to celebrate Independence Day, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation welcomes home injured veteran United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Benjamin Webb and his two dogs Maddie and Zoe into his new mortgage-free smart home in New Jersey.

SSgt Webb served our great country for 15 years and he completed four overseas combat tours–– three in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.

During his 15 years in the Marines, SSgt Webb suffered multiple concussions and shrapnel wounds due to RPG and IED blasts. He was awarded three purple hearts for his service and sacrifice. In 2017 SSgt Webb retired due to the injuries he sustained in combat.

Following retirement, he purchased a home in Union Beach, NJ only to discover the property was plagued with ongoing damage and structural issues from the catastrophic Hurricane Sandy. The situation was made irrevocably worse when a contractor he hired to repair the settling of the home ended up doing more damage, taking $50,000 from SSgt Webb and leaving him with an uninhabitable home.

Tunnel to Towers stepped in, demolished the original home and began building him a brand new smart home on the same lot.

SSgt Webb expressed his gratitude stating, “The Smart Home Program is giving me my home back and is really giving me my life back…a place to enjoy life again in my little corner of the world.”

Present at the home dedication ceremony are USMC SSgt Benjamin Webb, his two dogs Maddie and Zoe, Tunnel to Towers Chairman & CEO Frank Siller, Tunnel to Towers board member and FDNY Battalion Chief (ret.) Jack Oehm, Tunnel to Towers board member Kathy Cunningham, Tunnel to Towers smart home recipient USMC Cpl Scott Nokes, USMC Lieutenant Colonel James Sfayer, and local VIPs, partners, sponsors and supporters.

The Tunnel to Towers Smart Home Program builds specially-adapted, mortgage-free smart homes that allow catastrophically injured veterans like SSgt Webb to live more independently.

SSgt Webb’s new smart home features automatic doors and wide hallways, which will allow him to move freely through his new home in his wheelchair.

The kitchen features lower counter space, pull-down cabinet shelves and a stove that raises and lowers to wheelchair height allowing him to cook and clean without any physical barriers. The home’s lights, thermostat and security system can be controlled via an app allowing him to control these aspects of the home from anywhere.

Learn more about our mission to provide mortgage-free homes to these American heroes and their families by visiting T2T.org.