2013, cnn hero dale beatty passed away this year. his work rehabbing homes touched the lives of so many veterans. we also want to honor mayor brent taylor of north ogden, utah. he was 39 years old. he had completed two tours in iraq and one in afghanistan. tragically last month on his second tour in afghanistan he was killed. his wife, jennie and three of their children, jennie, meghan, lincoln and alexander are here with us tonight. please welcome them. [ applause ] their dad is a real american hero in every sense of the word, and we want to thank them and all our service members and their families who give so much to this country every single day. thank you.
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i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don t look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. this weekend it s more an than barbecues and fireworks and sleeping late. it s an independence. america s independence. in celebrating the country s independence we remember past ckrn heroes who helped keep america free. cnn s anderson cooper has more. cnn hero dale beatty. reporter: since honored as a top ten cnn hero last year, dale and his group nearly doubled their efforts to modify or help provide homes for disabled veterans.
they jump started me back into life. purple heart homes, it s a welcome home. it s great to be home after 40 years. regardless of when you serve, where you serve, we re all the same. we re all veterans. they just need to know that somebody does care about them. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming cnn hero dale beatty. [ applause ]
have to memorize your speech. so i will at least do the first part without. almost 20 years ago, dale and his friend john, they became great friends, joined the national guard together, and they had a long, great friendship, you know, serving this country. and almost exactly nine years ago tonight, today, on a clear, crisp day in iraq, john was driving and dale was filming and they were telling stories and in a sense, having as good of a time they could have, when they were hit by a roadside bomb. their lives were immediately and instantly changed forever. dale had both of his legs amputated below the knee, and when he was in the recovery for the next year, he lied with his two young children and tried to figure out how he could build the home that he dreamed to build for him and his high school sweetheart and his two kids. and he honestly wasn t sure what