On Thursday, Building Homes for Heroes presented its 433rd mortgage-free home to Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans, who is considered one of the most decorated female veterans in U.S. history.
The event in Harvest kicked off with a parade featuring Argyle Emergency Services, the Argyle High School marching band and cheerleaders. The keys to the house were dropped in by skydivers wearing parachutes with the Unites States and Texas flags.
“This was an incredible sight to behold,” said Denton County Judge Andy Eads.
Evans, who has been awarded a Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the ESPN Pat Tillman Award for Service for sustained life-changing injuries during her nearly 30-year military career, including deafness, a traumatic brain injury and chronic physical wounds.
In 2006, she suffered a traumatic brain injury after a mortar blast sent her flying into a concrete bunker in Afghanistan and ended her service.
Evans was later inducted into the U.S. Army Women’s Hall of Fame and U.S. Veteran Hall of Fame.
The announcement that Building Homes for Heroes would gift Evans a mortgage-free home came in November 2024 at the Ross Perot Freedom Museum in Dallas alongside Ross Perot Jr.
According to Eads, the new home, located in the Harvest master-planned community, was built through collaboration with community partners and is fully adaptive and ADA-compliant, featuring wider doorways for wheelchair access, walk-in showers and fire alarms with visual as well as audio alerts.
“This event highlights the resilience of veterans while honoring the sacrifices made in service to the nation,” he said. “I cannot think of a better way to show appreciation than the gift of a home without a mortgage and adapted to the needs of Commander Sergeant Major Evans.”
