Retired Marine Gets $70,000 Home Makeover [VIDEO]

It’s one of those stories you’ll need the Kleenex to read, a story of how one Marine gave another retired Marine a $70,000 home makeover!

It all started when Master Sergeant Jacinto Bernardo, an Iraq war veteran who just retired after 21 years of service in the United State Marine Corps, asked a Marine friend to watch his house while his family was stationed in Japan.  Jacinto was finally able to buy a home for he and his family back in January, but it was to be a MAJOR project to fix it up, the house was in very poor shape, but it was the only home that Jacinto could afford.

Just before leaving for Japan, Jacinto asked a fellow Marine, Jeremy Epperson, if he would be kind enough to keep an eye on the house for him while they were stationed in Japan, but it got a whole lot kinder than just house sitting.  Jeremy managed to raise a slew of money while they were gone, and thanks to he and some helpful volunteers, Jacinto’s home had a little renovating done, $70,000 worth of renovations!  When asked what gave him the idea to come up with these renovations, Jeremy told ABC News/KGO-TV “Twenty-one years in the Marine Corps, retiring, you don’t deserve to come back to your house where you have to spend a lot of your savings and a lot of your time fixing it up.”

Jeremy even went as far as sending a limo to the airport to pick up Jacinto and his family when they returned fromJapan, only to return to a home that looked like it was brand new, withseaofAmerican Flagsalong the new yard to welcome them home.  When they got inside, Jacinto was completely stunned to see all the renovations; new carpet, new fixtures, new kitchen, new yard, all a part of a program called “Homecoming Heroes.”

Jacinto burst into tears saying that there were other veterans who deserved it more than him.  The one thing he was hoping to find after returning from theUnited Stateswas an “In and Out Burger.”  Little did he know, he would be coming home to much more than a hamburger!  What a way to welcome this man who served our country home!

There's many people who live right here in Cheyenne who do good things for our community, whether they're a volunteer, a teacher, someone who has or are serving in the military, a first responder, anyone that's made a real difference in Cheyenne, and we'd like to honor them as our "Home Town Hero."  Know anyone who does some good in our community?  Tell us about them here!