Marine Sgt. Josh Sweeney doesn't have an excuse anymore.
"I'll actually have to do dishes now," he joked, as he maneuvered his wheelchair through his brand-new home on Tuesday and saw a specially adapted kitchen sink.
The house, built and donated to Sweeney and his wife through the nonprofit Homes For Our Troops, contains over 150 such adaptations for the soldier, who lost both of his legs in 2009 after he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Now Zad, Afghanistan. Veterans and community leaders gathered at the home, a few miles outside Hillsboro on River Road, for a Veterans Day ceremony to welcome the Sweeneys to Washington County.
"This feels like a mansion," Sweeney said, comparing the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house to the one-bedroom apartment he currently shares with his wife, Amber.
The Sweeneys haven't paid a dime for the house, and there will be no mortgage, either. Homes For Our Troops has now built 170 such residences, awarded to soldiers who have been injured in battle after Sept. 11, 2011 and who are approved for the Specially Adapted Housing Grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sweeney, 27, received a Purple Heart after his injury, but he hasn't let the ordeal confine him to an idle life. The Arizona native played hockey growing up, and since losing his legs, he's taken to sled hockey. He's excelled. He has been named a captain of the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team and even scored the game-winning goal for the gold medal against the Russians at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games.
"There's nothing better than beating the Russians, no matter what we're doing," said Homes For Our Troops Executive Director Bill Ivey. He said the nonprofit receives 70 percent of its annual revenue from individual donations. Home For Our Troops raised over $16 million in fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13, records show.
Now that he's in the Pacific Northwest, where Amber has family, Sweeney plans to start a sled hockey program in Portland and pursue an engineering degree. He's also coaching high-schoolers in the Winterhawks Varsity Hockey League – some of his players were at the ceremony.
"He's very inspiring," said Gresham High School student Colton Liebelt, 16, who is one of Sweeney's hockey players. "Very enthusiastic. Good coach."
A host of elected officials appeared and spoke at the ceremony, including U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Washington County Chairman Andy Duyck, Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey, Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle and Washington County Commissioners Bob Terry, Dick Schouten and Greg Malinowski.
"In the six years that I've been mayor, this has got to be one of the high points," Willey said.
-- Luke Hammill