Surprise! Injured Marine getting new home

Retired Marine Cpl. Donny Daughenbaugh received quite a surprise Tuesday afternoon.
The Iowa resident and his family learned they will be receiving a new home in the Victory Lakes subdivision in League City, courtesy of the Bay Area Builders Association and the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation.
BABA was established in 2005 to provide custom-made homes to wounded and disabled veterans. The Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation helps veterans readjust to their new physical and emotional challenges.
Daughenbaugh had applied for the program, but was not aware he had been chosen when he attended the BABA meeting in Friendswood, said Gail Payne, marketing director for the Bly Team RE/MAX Space Center. RE/MAX is a major sponsor of the program.
Although Daughenbaugh has no family roots in Houston and has never lived here before, he chose League City for the home because of what he had seen when he had come down for previous BABA activities.
He fell in love with the area when he came here before," Payne said.
Daughenbaugh was severely injured in Iraq on Oct. 12, 2004 when out on a night foot patrol in Mahmoudiya, a city south of Baghdad. He was shot in the face by attackers than sped past his unit in a vehicle, then stopped and opened fire with an AK-47.
The bullet that struck him in his left cheekbone lodged between the base of his skull and his top vertebra. Because it was too close to his brain to remove, doctors had to leave it where it is. A metal plate was used to repair his fractured jawbone.
Besides the home, the program will provide Daughenbaugh with an employment opportunity with training and education, and four years of financial and emotional mentorship.