thedrifter
07-01-03, 06:27 AM
Local Marines, public pitch in to assist military family
By DON PORTER
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- Having done their part this spring to help fight Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, members of Company B of the Marine Corps Reserves 6th Engineer Support Battalion might be expected to spend their summer weekends resting up.
Instead, a dozen members of the company joined with local government and several area contractors on Saturday to install a new roof on the home of an former Marine who is now a Navy reservist.
They swarmed atop the home of Mike and Carmen Cantu in the 600 block of South Walnut Street, removing the old roof and nailing down a new one guaranteed to keep the Cantus and their two children snug and dry for years to come.
The work was part of Project Homefront, a national collaboration between the Rebuilding Together program and Home Depot to help maintain the homes of military families when a family member is deployed overseas.
Mike Cantu is a Seabee with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 26. Formerly based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center here, it was relocated last year to Grissom Air Reserve Base near Peru.
Cantu, 39, has been a member of the battalion for three years and has spent 13 years in the military. Most of his service was in the Marine Corps and he is a past member of Company B here.
"It's great, it's unbelievable," he said Saturday as he watched Company B members putting on his home's new roof. "The whole thing is awesome.
"They're working hard, they're typical Marines," he added.
The St. Joseph County chapter of Rebuilding Together, which has taken over the Christmas in April home repair program here, was able to secure a $2,000 federal grant to help pay for roofing materials. Additional volunteers and materials came from Christian Builders, Tim Wroble and Lowe's Hardware, Baumer Roofing and American Security Co..
The Cantu home is the first locally repaired through the Project Homefront effort.
Cantu's reserve unit spent six months last year deployed at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. He is a heavy equipment operator with the battalion.
Companies like his didn't need to think long when asked to help out, said Chris Elmerick, owner of Christian Builders.
"It's just neat how people respond when someone who has served his country is in need," he said.
Staff writer Don Porter:
dporter@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6350
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2003/06/29/local.20030629-sbt-FULL-D1-Local_Marines_.sto
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
By DON PORTER
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- Having done their part this spring to help fight Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, members of Company B of the Marine Corps Reserves 6th Engineer Support Battalion might be expected to spend their summer weekends resting up.
Instead, a dozen members of the company joined with local government and several area contractors on Saturday to install a new roof on the home of an former Marine who is now a Navy reservist.
They swarmed atop the home of Mike and Carmen Cantu in the 600 block of South Walnut Street, removing the old roof and nailing down a new one guaranteed to keep the Cantus and their two children snug and dry for years to come.
The work was part of Project Homefront, a national collaboration between the Rebuilding Together program and Home Depot to help maintain the homes of military families when a family member is deployed overseas.
Mike Cantu is a Seabee with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 26. Formerly based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center here, it was relocated last year to Grissom Air Reserve Base near Peru.
Cantu, 39, has been a member of the battalion for three years and has spent 13 years in the military. Most of his service was in the Marine Corps and he is a past member of Company B here.
"It's great, it's unbelievable," he said Saturday as he watched Company B members putting on his home's new roof. "The whole thing is awesome.
"They're working hard, they're typical Marines," he added.
The St. Joseph County chapter of Rebuilding Together, which has taken over the Christmas in April home repair program here, was able to secure a $2,000 federal grant to help pay for roofing materials. Additional volunteers and materials came from Christian Builders, Tim Wroble and Lowe's Hardware, Baumer Roofing and American Security Co..
The Cantu home is the first locally repaired through the Project Homefront effort.
Cantu's reserve unit spent six months last year deployed at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. He is a heavy equipment operator with the battalion.
Companies like his didn't need to think long when asked to help out, said Chris Elmerick, owner of Christian Builders.
"It's just neat how people respond when someone who has served his country is in need," he said.
Staff writer Don Porter:
dporter@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6350
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2003/06/29/local.20030629-sbt-FULL-D1-Local_Marines_.sto
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: