Orange Grove Marine Veteran Receives Custom Wheelchair-Accessible Home in Jim Wells County

Justin Rokohl lost both legs to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2008. On March 23, the nonprofit Helping a Hero gave him a custom, wheelchair-accessible home nestled among the mesquite trees of rural Jim Wells County — built specifically around the needs of the Orange Grove native and U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Rokohl had served in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 before the IED strike ended his combat service. A friend nominated him to Helping a Hero a couple of years ago, setting in motion a build that drew donors including Shayne Schroeder Custom Homes, Childress Racing, Bass Pro Shops, and Ashley Furniture, which supplied all-new furnishings. Rokohl's own hunting trophies went up on the living room walls alongside them.

"It's a weird and amazing feeling," Rokohl said at the March 23 ceremony. "You know, it's always hard taking gifts from anyone. When someone joins the military, it's not something you're thinking you're going to get something back from that. Usually, you join because you want to serve."

Carrie, his wife, put it more simply: "It's going to make life easier for him."

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham spoke at the welcome celebration, and country musician Chris Janson performed alongside his 12-year-old son, Jesse. The couple toured the home with guests, walking attendees through rooms that Helping a Hero and its network of donors built to accommodate Rokohl's mobility.

The home carries the memory of someone who never got to come back. Rokohl's best friend, Pfc. Colton Rusk, also from Orange Grove, stayed with Rokohl through his entire hospital recovery and rehabilitation after the amputations. Rusk was later killed in action in Afghanistan at age 20. An apple tree was planted at the property in his honor.

"My main dedication now is just keeping his name alive in this world, and that apple tree is going to be a big, significant part of this house and something I can look on in fondness every day," Rokohl said.

Rokohl and Carrie already channel that dedication through the Darkhorse Archery Veteran Foundation, which they run in Rusk's memory. The foundation introduces veterans and youth to archery, distributes compound bows to veterans each year, and works to keep Rusk's story in circulation.

Helping a Hero founder Meredeth Iler framed the land in Jim Wells County as more than a home site. "This is going to be very special land," Iler said, "because it's land where Justin and his fiancée Carrie are going to be married, have kids and, most importantly, continue to work with their Dark Horse Archery Veteran Foundation."

The organization has gifted 58 homes so far this year, according to KRIS 6 News. For Rokohl, the build closes one chapter and opens another — on land he now shares with Carrie, the memory of Colton Rusk, and the foundation that keeps both alive.