Cliff Betcher helps his son Grayson cut the ribbon to their new home.[/caption]

Sergeant Cliff Betcher received the keys to a brand new home this past weekend in the Bridgeland master-planned community, courtesy of Operation Finally Home.

Operation Finally Home—a nonprofit organization that provides homes for veterans—partnered with Beazer Homes, the Howard Hughes Corporation and the Houston Texans to build Betcher a six-bedroom home.

The mortgage-free home was presented to Betcher during a Jan. 7 Houston Texans playoff game. On May 26, Betcher received the keys to the home during a presentation that included Bridgeland residents, Former Houston Texan Fred Weary, the Houston Texans cheerleaders and Beazer Homes President Bruce Craig.

Betcher addressed the crowd after his wife, Wynne, received the keys.

“I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “When I say that, I mean it. My old man is sitting out here, and he once told me that all a person’s got is their word. If you say it, you better mean it. So trust me when I say this: Thank you very much. It means the world to me, it means the world to my family.”

Betcher served 15 months in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Six months into his tour, his convoy was attacked and his Humvee was hit with an RPG. Betcher said he lost a friend during the attack, suffered a brain injury and now has PTSD.

“I don’t consider myself a hero,” he said. “I consider the people who didn’t make it back heroes.”

Betcher’s 7-year-old son, Grayson, cut the ribbon in front of the house, and the family proceeded to tour their new home. Craig said Bridgeland was the best place for Betcher’s new home to be.

“This is an amazing community,” Craig said. “It is a tremendous support group. You can see a lot of residents are here today. A lot of groups inside the community support veterans. To me, there is no better place here to raise your family.”

Betcher told his new neighbors in attendance at the event that he looked forward to getting to know them.

“If anybody needs anything, you know exactly where I live,” he said.