STATESVILLE, N.C.,None — On Monday, Time Magazine readers across the nation will be introduced to two local heroes -- Purple Heart Homes founders Dale Beatty and John Gallina.
The best friends, who live in Statesville, are two of the five veterans who will grace the magazine's cover this week. Beatty and Gallina are featured in Joe Klein's article "The New Greatest Generation," along with Wes Moore, Liz McNally and Paul Rieckhoff, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Klein's article highlights the skills veterans like Beatty and Gallina brought back, and are now using to better their communities.
"I'm really super excited and it's an honor to be recognized by a writer of his caliber," Beatty said. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Beatty said Klein came down a month ago to interview the two veterans, whose efforts have been featured in several articles over the years in the R&L.
They and the others featured in the article were selected because they continue to employ the leadership skills they were required to use by the military in the civilian world, he said.
Since Beatty and Gallina started the nonprofit organization in 2008, he said they have tried to pay forward the gifts they've received from being veterans.
The charity aims to help veterans from all wars. Beatty said Klein refers to them as "the next greatest generation," which reminds him of "the greatest generation" and World War II veterans.
"The older veterans need just as much focus on their needs as younger veterans do," Beatty said.
To date, Purple Heart Homes has worked with three veterans to improve their living conditions.
Beatty and Gallina both joined the North Carolina National Guard in 1996. In November 2004, their Humvee was blown up by an anti-tank mine. As a result, Beatty lost both his legs and Gallina suffered a traumatic brain injury.
It's been nearly seven years since the incident, and the two men have taken their experiences and turned them into something positive.
The idea for Purple Heart Homes came after the Iredell Home Builders Association rallied the Statesville community to assist in building Beatty's house, he said.
Beatty said he's lived in places where things weren't assessable to his needs. And in the military, home holds a special reverence, he said.
"All they want to do is come back home," he said. "It is a lot more than bricks and mortar that we are giving people when we remodel their home."
Beatty said there are a number of projects they are considering for the future.
He said he is anxious to see the reaction to the Time Magazine story. He hopes it will help them take the organization's work to the next level, so they can work on multiple projects at the same time.
Purple Heart Homes' next fundraiser is a golf tournament at Lakewood Golf Club off Buffalo Shoals Road on Sept. 16.
For more information on Purple Heart Homes, go to www.purplehearthomesusa.org/index.htm.
For a behind-the-scenes peek at Beatty and Gallina's photo shoot, visit Klein's blog: www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1115748350001_2089305,00.html
WSOC
