Non-Profit Homes for Our Troops Gave Home to “Permanently Paralyzed” Vet Army Specialist Justin Perez-Gorda … Now Must Weigh Options as it Appears to Have been a Fraud

STOLEN VALOR HOME … Was this a con from the outset by this couple to get a new home bought and paid for?

Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit organization, provided military veteran Army Specialist Justin Perez-Gorda a home free of charge to account for his handicap and paralysis; however, something fishy appears to be going on … within weeks after Justin Perez-Gorda and his wife moved into the home, he was walking. Miracle or fraud? I will opt for the latter. When confronted by the media of his miraculous recovery, Justin Perez-Gorda told the reporter to get off his property.  The non-profit, Homes for Our Troops said the organization is thinking about its next steps and has to weigh their options. One of them might be trying to take back the home.

The man suffered a brain injury in Afghanistan in 2011, but for years he and his wife claimed that he was paralyzed form the waist down.

“He has permanent loss of use of both lower extremities. He’s paralyzed from the belly button down,” Josephine Perez-Gorda said in a Homes for Our Troops promotional video.

But, soon after the couple moved into the house specially designed for a handicapped individual, neighbors noticed something odd: Perez-Gorda could walk. Those who spoke to WTSP said the couple became angry when asked about his condition.

‘Paralyzed’ veteran given free home caught walking.

Army Specialist Justin Perez-Gorda suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in Afghanistan in January 2011.

For years, he and his wife claimed publicly he was paralyzed from the belly button down.

“He has permanent loss of use of both lower extremities. He’s paralyzed from the belly button down,” Josephine Perez-Gorda said during a taped video segment later used by Homes for Our Troops for fundraising efforts.

Homes for Our Troops (HFOT) is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

If this is a fraud, which it really appears to be, it is disgusting. With so many soldiers returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan that are truly needing of such homes, for one of their own to perpetrate such a con is just unconscionable. There is no doubt that Army Specialist Justin Perez-Gorda suffered some type of injury, but it was nothing like what was embellished. Watch the promotional VIDEO below from Homes for Our Troops and you can plainly hear Justin’s wife, Josephine Perez-Gorda, say at the 1:35 minute mark that he has permanent loss of the use of both lower extremities and that he was paralyzed from the belly-button down. Hmm, that is a far cry from the VIDEO above where Justin can be seen walking and carrying wood.

Army SPC Justin Perez-Gorda was on his first deployment when he became a paraplegic and suffered a traumatic brain injury, as the result of an IED explosion in Memlah, Afghanistan on January 5, 2011.

SPC Justin Perez-Gorda – Homes For our Troops, Published on Oct 24, 2012

Stolen Valor in Tampa, FL Outside MacDill Airforce Base

THIS IS AN INSTANT CLASSIC:  MAN RIPS BEGGING FRAUD … “TAKE OFF MY UNIFORM”.

STOLEN VALOR: It is one thing to beg, its quite another thing to beg while pretending to be a down and out military veteran and it, as the man says in the video, takes balls, to beg and pretend to be a military veteran outside a military base. Watch the man below rip this fraud a new one. You can hear Garrett Goodwin say to the homeless fraud, “That’s my uniform! My brothers died in that uniform.” … “Take that and throw it away!” … “Don’t put it back on.” … “Not on my watch. Not yesterday. Not today. Not tomorrow.”

Kudos to  Garrett Goodwin!!!

Warning – Language

STOLEN VALOR CONFRONTED.

The man in uniform claimed to be a vet and was begging for money, and Garrett Goodwin had seen enough.

Goodwin is an Army veteran who confronted an apparently fake one on the streets of Tampa on Monday.

It happened at the intersection of Gandy and Dale Mabry, and the video has been seen by more than 1.8 million people on Facebook.

The man is holding a sign that says he’s a homeless veteran and he needs help. It just so happens that Goodwin helps organizations who reach out to veterans in need, but minutes into the conversation, he says he knew something was up.

“That’s my uniform! My brothers died in that uniform,” you can hear him say on the video.

In fact, he told FOX 13 that he’s burying a friend — a Marine who died of cancer — and that’s one of the reasons why he reacted so strongly.

“Take that and throw it away!” he screams at the man. “Don’t put it back on.”

“I was angry. I was frustrated. I was sad,” Goodwin said.

He isn’t the only one. The video has been shared by tens of thousands of people on Facebook. Goodwin, an Army medic for nine years, takes it personally.