‘Giving back to a man who sacrificed so much’: Spring Branch volunteers come together to help 98-year-old WWII veteran

SPRING BRANCH, Texas – A group of Spring Branch community members came to the aid of a WWII veteran Wednesday.

During a routine visit at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, WWII Army veteran John Carter, 98, mentioned offhand he needed help with some house work -- a tree limb kept scraping against the roof of his home, keeping him up at night. An employee at the facility gave Carter the contact information of one Hector Giron, an area resident who often assists veterans.

Following a call with Carter, Giron realized he lived just minutes from the veteran and drove directly to his home to meet with him. Once there, Carter’s wife Estelle told Giron her husband, a Purple Heart recipient, had been captured and held in a German Prisoner of War camp for nearly 5 months during WWII. The tree limb that continued to scrape against their roof upset her husband, who’s easily triggered by loud noises.

“The scraping noise keeps him up in the middle of the night thinking something/someone is outside trying to get in,” Giron wrote in a social media post. “His wife has to lock all the door so he won’t go investigate the sounds.”

Giron shared the couple’s story on social media Tuesday.

“Mr. Carter is 98 yrs young, served his nation and needs our help,” Giron’s post read. “If anyone is down to knock this out with me, please reach out. It’s not much work and I can get the tools needed to make it happen.”

Within hours, several people moved by the couple’s story contacted Giron to lend a helping hand.

The next day, the group of do-gooders assembled and went to work, trimming tree limbs and bushes, power washing the driveway and hanging an American flag in the front yard.

“Giving back to a man who sacrificed so much for our everyday way of life,” Giron wrote in a Wednesday social media post. “Tree limbs trimmed, power washed the driveway and front door passageway, put up “Old Glory” to wave freely on this veteran home and trimmed the brushes upfront. We knocked this out pretty quickly today. Very impressed with the volunteers.”