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Wounded warriors and veterans honored in San Diego; offered a place to heal

CBS 8 has been a proud partner with Warrior Foundation Freedom Station and is helping to raise money for warriors to start a new beginning.

SAN DIEGO — Military veterans and wounded warriors were honored across America.

CBS 8 has been a proud partner with Warrior Foundation Freedom Station for years and is helping to raise money to help warriors start a new beginning and send them home for the holidays.

From 30th Street in South Park, bright yellow cottages shine on the street; The inside of the cottages shines even more brilliantly at Freedom Station II.

"It's been a miracle. A gift. I don't know what I would be doing without the Foundation," said Cpl. Nick Voss, U.S. Marine veteran.

For a little over a year, he's lived in one of the Warrior Foundation Freedom Stations II's cottages.

He medically retired in 2021 after a spinal cord injury in a helicopter accident while serving in the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion.

"The Foundation being able to provide me with a new wheelchair when I showed up in a broken one that was being held together by duct tape that was huge," said Voss. 

U.S. Marine Gunner Sgt. Dana Cisneros gave CBS 8 a tour of the legacy house that's a temporary home for her and her parents while being treated nearby at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

She underwent a below-the-knee amputation in August after an injury from a broken foot.

"We were looking at hotels and Airbnb's. And it's so hard to find something ADA compliant or even has just, it is just handicap accessible period," said Cisneros.

Not all of the wounded warriors' injuries are as visible as some of the residents.

"I went through five combat deployments. I've been blown up 21 times; not every day is easy," said Sgt. David Scott, U.S. Marine veteran. 

On the outside, you only see his hearing aids, but Scott suffers from several brain injuries while serving from 2003 to 2014 in the 1st Battalion 5th Marines and 3rd Battalion 5th Marines.

"It's just one little step at a time," said Scott.

One of those steps happened in June when the freelance photographer and his service dog Noble moved into one of eight cottages at Freedom Station II with other wounded warriors.

"It's a great place for veterans to learn independence and how to live independently and create a structure," said Voss.

Warrior Foundation Freedom Station has two villages, and another one is in the works designed for ill or injured service members to transition into civilian life.

Warriors stay for an average of 16 months, and they pay discounted rent, and when they move out, it makes way for another warrior to start a new beginning among comrades who get them. 

"They may not all have gone through the same thing that I'm going through. But we've all been through our own thing in our way. And we understand each other," said Cisneros.

That understanding can be the best medicine to help these wounded warriors heal.

"Somebody doesn't always have the same mentality as you, but as a veteran and what they're going through, they can always come back to you and build you up. And that's super important," said Scott.

CBS 8 is a proud partner of the Warrior Foundation Freedom Station's 19th annual give-a-thon this Thursday, November 10.

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