Last Edited: Monday, 30 Mar 2009, 11:55 PM EDT Created On: Monday, 30 Mar 2009, 5:45 PM EDT
DAVID MARTIN | FOX 35 News
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - To say
you support the troops is one thing. Doing something about it is
another. An Iraq War veteran has just come home with his purple heart,
starting his life over in Central Florida.
Staff Sargeant
William Castillo joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks. "I
was in New York, and it really struck close to home. I knew a lot of
people who passed away in that event," said Castillo. "And I just
wanted to do something my first daughter could be proud of."
Castillo was off to Iraq to uncover insurgents. "I thought, I got to do this. It was a wake-up call for me at that point."
But
he got another wake-up call on April 27 of 2007, on the road to
Fallujah. "There was only one road in, one road out. We made a right
turn, and that was it. An IED went off. I woke up 10 seconds later
outside the truck," Castillo remembered.
He was in the line of
heavy fire, too. "Just trying to fight back, get back to the truck.
Trying to get to my driver. A round ricochets off the truck and goes
through my chin." Shrapnel went into his chin, and out through his
mouth.
And his two other comrades inside the Humvee? "They were
KIA (killed in action) on impact. I didn't know that, but yeah, they
were gone," said Castillo, choking back tears.
And the living
hell continued when a rocket-propelled grenade came out of nowhere. "I
was in no pain. Everyone asks me that. You don't feel any pain," said
Castillo. The grenade severed Castillo's left leg.
After
eighteen months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda,
Maryland, Castillo is playing basketball with his wife once again, and
throwing the football around with his children.
But make no mistake, Castillo is still hurting.
"It
eats you up inside, to be honest with you. The only regret I have is
not bringing back my soldiers with me, cause I feel I failed at that
part," said Castillo.
To help alleviate pain, the national Home For A Hero organization selected Castillo as their latest golf charity recipient. Proceeds from a golf tournament will go toward building Staff Sergeant Castillo a mortgage-free home.
"What
William and his family have gone through is overwhelming," said Teresa
Barr, charity organizer. "To know that we can take our passion for golf
and to raise funds that help him and his family, it's a small amount to
repay him for the sacrifices he's made."
"I went from 100 mph to
about two. That's the hardest part. I try not to let it bring me down
to much because I still have to be a husband and a father,"
saidCastillo.
Despite the charity's name, Castillo has
dificulty thinking of himself as a hero. "No, none of us do. None of
us in uniform ever think we are," he added.
U.S. Homeland Security has offered Castillo a new job. He will take it when he is mentally and physically ready.
If you're interested in golfing in the tournament, check out A Home For A Hero website . The game is scheduled for April 28 at the Windermere Country Club.
Building Homes for Heroes to help Orlando veteran get house
A wounded vet and his family are to receive a new home in honor of his heroism in Iraq
Darryl E. Owens |Sentinel Staff Writer
March 17, 2009
Army
Staff Sgt. Guillermo Castillo (from left), stepson Ryan, 6, and wife
Katherine Castillo, holding infant Xavier, live in a rented house near
his mother. Castillo lost his leg in Iraq. Building Homes for Heroes
chose him to receive a house of his own. (RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA, ORLANDO SENTINEL / March 5, 2009)
Once,
Staff Sgt. Guillermo Castillo braved enemy fire while commanding Humvee
patrols that swept through enemy terrain littered with roadside bombs.
Now, wearing an unwanted souvenir from his second Iraq tour, the
29-year-old Army Ranger mostly fears the staircase in his Orlando home.
"Going up and down steps is scary," said Castillo, whose left leg now
is man-made. "You don't know when the foot's [on the step]. You just
have to trust it. Everything has changed."
Nearly two years ago, his dreams exploded in a moment of madness. Now,
a New York outfit and a local charity intend to restore a big piece of
his American dream by giving him a free house.
Castillo
will be the fifth severely wounded service member recently returned
from Afghanistan or Iraq to receive a new or refurbished home from
Building Homes for Heroes. The Long Island-based group provides families as much as $250,000 to build or buy a home. This time, the Windermere Country Club Foundation is supporting the project with a golf fundraiser.
"Knowing that William Castillo survived so much physical and emotional
trauma ... we found his story of service and survival to be incredibly
compelling," said Andy Pujol, president of Building Homes for Heroes.
Originally from New York, Castillo felt duty's tug after friends
perished in the Sept. 11 attacks. He joined the Army in 2003, and two
years later, he was fighting in Iraq.
Upon returning to the States, he enrolled in Army Ranger School and
later volunteered for a second deployment in 2007. That stint was cut
short.
On April 27 that year, his squad was ordered to clear an area for
medical-evacuation helicopters to treat wounded Marines pinned down by
enemy gunfire. Castillo's team did its job.
While they were heading back to base, a roadside bomb in Fallujah
exploded near Castillo's Humvee. He awoke nearby in a small trench. His
ears rang and enemy gunfire flashed around him.
Having only a sidearm, he moved toward the burning, capsized Humvee. A
bullet hit him in the head, though his Kevlar bore the brunt. Two more
shells struck his bullet-proof vest. Another round slammed into his
right leg. A final round smashed through his chin and out his mouth.
Still, he continued toward the driver pinned inside the Humvee. A rocket-propelled grenade ended his rescue efforts.
"Everything," Castillo said, "went black."
Recovering from attack
The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His men weren't as lucky.
Army Spec. Eddie D. Tamez, 21, and Army Pfc. David A. Kirkpatrick, 20,
both of the 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd
Infantry Division, died in the blast.
Before doctors could break the news, Castillo saw he too had made great sacrifices.
"You see so much stuff over there that the first thing you do is check yourself," he said.
His sister called Katherine, an old flame with whom he had reconnected
just before deploying, to rally support for Castillo during his
recovery.
"I needed to be there," said Katherine, 28. "I didn't want to turn and run."
Indeed, she made frequent trips from New York to Washington to stay on his case, his benevolent drill sergeant.
"Next thing I know," Castillo said, "she was there on the weekends to motivate me and inspire me to get past it."
That struck a chord with him. He battled through infections in his
stump to be fitted for a prosthetic leg in September 2007 so he could
practice kneeling. At a friend's wedding three days later, he knelt and
proposed. They married last May.
After moving to Orlando to be near his mother and Andrea, his
9-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, the Castillos rented a
house.
They had tried to buy a home for more than a year, but they couldn't
score a mortgage. In January, a contact with the Army Wounded Warrior
Program informed Castillo that Building Homes for Heroes wanted to talk.
•What:
Windermere Country Club Foundation Second Annual Charity Golf
Tournament. Four-person golf scramble, continental breakfast, beverage
cart, lunch, awards ceremony after play, silent and live auctions,
hole-in-one and long-dive contests and more.
•When: April 28; registration starts at 7 a.m. Shotgun start begins at 9 a.m.
•Where: Windermere Country Club, 2710 N. Butler Bay Drive
•Cost: $125 per player; $475 per foursome.
•Other details: You can sign up
as a sponsor, donate an auction item or send a check to the foundation:
Windermere Country Club Foundation, 2710 N. Butler Bay Drive,
Windermere, FL 34786. Tournament registration and other information:
www.ahomeforahero.org
After
meeting the Castillo's, Building Homes for Heroes invited the family to
a Magic game, where they learned they had been chosen.
"It was just overwhelming, you know," Castillo said. "My wife's crying,
and I'm trying to keep my composure — I'm in uniform, you know."
Soon, a home of their own
Building Homes
for Heroes expects that with the fundraising in progress, the Castillo's
can start building a new home somewhere in Central Florida or buy an
existing home within six months.
They like their current location — two blocks from Castillo's mother,
Noemi Barreiro — but the stairs are just one issue. The place wasn't
meant for a wounded warrior.
On a recent afternoon, Castillo wasn't sure whether his son Xavier was
bored, hungry or sopping wet as he made his move over to the child's
carrier. By the time he got there, the infant's half-hearted squeals
had swelled into full-fledged crying.
With his wife out of earshot, Castillo took the baby in his arms,
reluctantly, bracing his God-given leg while steadying the metallic
mirage of the limb he lost.
"I carry him, but I try not to if I don't have to — even though I want
to," Castillo said. He is afraid his new leg might betray him.
For Castillo, the worries and adjustments may never cease. He can't
chase after Andrea and his stepchildren, Haley, 8, and Ryan, 6, the way
he once did.
But he is thankful he can still chase his revamped dreams. And he's
grateful that he won't need to chase a cornerstone of many Americans'
dream: a family's home, mortgaged in gratitude.
Windermere CC Foundation and Building Homes for Heroes to build home for hero in Orlando Building Homes for Heroes and The
Windermere Country Club Foundation of Florida and have joined forces to
build a mortgage-free home for Army Staff Sergeant William Castillo and
his family! The surprise announcement took place at the Amway Arena,
home of the Orlando Magic, at halftime of the game between the New
Jersey Nets and the Magic on Sunday February 8.
Staff
Sergeant Castillo, who is originally from New York, took five shots –
including one that exited through his mouth – after a bomb exploded
under his Humvee in Iraq. He was struggling to get back to the burning
truck to help his comrades when a missile cut through the vehicle – and
severed his left leg, at the knee. He was the lone survivor of the
attack.
Castillo
was overjoyed with the announcement. “My family and I are so blessed
to live in this great country,” he said. “For my wife and I to be able
to have a home to call our own to raise our children in – it’s really
all any mom or dad could ever ask for. It would be the American dream
come true”. William and Katherine Castillo have four children,
including a newborn son.
If
you’d like to contribute to the building of this home through Building
Homes for Heroes, you can make an online donation from this page.
————————— • —————————
West Orange Times
Community: Windermere
U.S.
Army Staff Sgt. William Castillo (center) and his family recently were
honored and surprised during halftime at an Orlando Magic game to learn
they will be the recipients of a mortgage-free new home provided by
Building Homes for Heroes and funds raised at a golf tournament
organized by the Windermere Country Club Foundation. The Castillo
family is surrounded by well wishers, including members of the WCC
Foundation.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - To say
you support the troops is one thing. Doing something about it is
another. An Iraq War veteran has just come home with his purple heart,
starting his life over in Central Florida.
Building Homes for Heroes and The
Windermere Country Club Foundation of Florida and have joined forces to
build a mortgage-free home for Army Staff Sergeant William Castillo and
his family! The surprise announcement took place at the Amway Arena,
home of the Orlando Magic, at halftime of the game between the New
Jersey Nets and the Magic on Sunday February 8.
