Posted on 12/21/2003 1:46:57 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
SINTON — The emergency message that Army Staff Sgt. Camilo Hernandez received in northern Iraq on Thanksgiving was the one that every American soldier serving overseas fears the most.
"His friend just e-mailed him quickly, 'You need to call your wife. Your home in Texas burned down,'" recalled Mona Hernandez, who made it out safely ahead of the flames with her two young sons.
"He called me the following day. I was crying and he was scared. He didn't know what was going on," she said of her husband, who left in March and doesn't know when he will return.
Mona Hernandez, 28, grew up in the small wood-frame house on Alston Street that once belonged to her great-grandmother. She moved back to South Texas from Kentucky when her husband was sent to Iraq.
The November nighttime fire consumed the house and all the family's belongings.
Now little more than broken concrete, ashes and shattered glass remain beside a rusted swing set and a charred water heater.
The family had no insurance, and the three have been staying with friends in Sinton since the fire. At first, it looked like Staff Sgt. Hernandez would have to appeal to the Army to return to Texas to find his family a home.
But then came the stranger Mona Hernandez now calls her guardian angel, and in the weeks since the disaster, a plan called "Project Heroes" to rebuild the family's home has almost come together.
"Staff Sgt. Hernandez is giving up his family life to go fight the war. I'm an ex-vet, and I was a staff sergeant too," said Joe Cole, a contractor from Corpus Christi who has spearheaded the effort.
"He's in a leadership position, and he has to watch over our children over there, so I don't think he should be worrying about his family here in time of war," said Cole, 43, who erected a billboard complete with Christmas lights asking for help at the site.
Since the fire, Cole and other volunteers have demolished the house and received generous donations of services and materials from a host of companies eager to help the Hernandez family rebuild.
"We've gotten all the trades. The electric has been donated by Scott Electric, the plumbing by Tom's Plumbing of Sinton, and the design by American Designers of Corpus Christi," Cole said.
Others have donated money, Dumpsters, interior fixtures, used furniture and lighting fixtures.
"We had people stop by to help. We even had a family from Canada who came to work instead of going to the beach," he said.
The plans call for a three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath home that Cole said could be ready in four months. But so far, finding someone willing to donate the $15,000 worth of lumber has been futile.
"We're ready to go. We've got the volunteers. We've got about $20,000 in pledges, but I'm afraid if we don't get the lumber soon, we'll lose them," he said.
Cole said a plea to Home Depot, which advertises "Project Homefront" to help families of military personnel deployed overseas, brought no help.
A company spokesperson said the project has stopped taking applications for this year, but encouraged the Hernandez family to apply again in January when new funds are available.
All the while, Staff Sgt. Hernandez has followed the long-distance effort to build his family a new home from Iraq, and has only praise for Cole and the other volunteers. In a lengthy e-mail, he shared his thoughts.
"I have spent a lot of time away from home this year be it deployment, military school or just training exercises. Nothing of this nature has ever happened to us. Yes, it was a shock to me, but my first thought was my family," he wrote.
"I'm real fortunate and grateful that nothing has happened to me. I wish I could be there for my wife and kids for support. I hate the fact that my wife is there dealing with all that has taken place on her own. Sometimes you can't be there for certain reasons," he wrote.
But his wife said Cole and the volunteers have given her family hope.
"I feel like it's after the storm. The sunshine breaks through," Mona Hernandez said. "Gosh, I was miserable for the first few days, but once Joe called and started helping out, it got a whole lot better."
Donations may be sent to the Mona Hernandez Fire Fund, First Capital Bank, 1127 E. Sinton, Sinton, Texas 78387.
Joe Cole can be reached at (361) 854-0226.
------- jmaccormack@express-news.net
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