By Ken Gaidziunas

Staff Writer

A special celebration Wednesday in Gunter honored two Iraq war heroes and their families with donated land and custom-built homes in The Bridges at Preston Crossings.

The first two of five families to be honored this year were war heroes Sgt. 1st Class Alan Hornaday and his wife, Sheila, and Sgt. Levi Wilson Jr. and his wife, Katie.

Hornaday is a veteran of the U.S. Army who sustained injuries in Baghdad in 2004.

Wilson is a U.S. Army veteran who was injured in Iraq in early 2008.

Each family will receive a lot and a custom-built home in The Bridges, with construction beginning in September.

In a media-filled clubhouse at The Bridges on Wednesday, Dan Koscher, president and CEO of Bluegreen Communities, said, "It is an honor for Bluegreen Communities to support the members of our military who have sacrificed so much to protect our country. We are proud to be a part of Operation Finally Home and are excited for these deserving families to call The Bridges home."

"I'm just thrilled. This hasn't hit me yet," Hornaday said.

"I'm still shocked," added Wilson.

"I humbly welcome you home," Koscher told the veterans.

Operation Finally Home, an organization founded by Houston's Bay Area Builders Association and sponsored by the NAPE Expo, the world's largest oil and gas exposition, honors wounded and disabled veterans and widows of fallen soldiers with new homes.