ELK GROVE, CA - When Philip Newlyn returned to California in 2011, after a year of recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he wasn't sure where he would live, but now he's received keys to a home that he can call his own.
"This is one huge, huge monumental thing I don't have to worry about," Newlyn said.
Newlyn moved into the home a couple months ago through the Military Warriors Support Foundation, but he got the official key to his new home on Tuesday during a luncheon at Van Ruiten Family winery in Lodi.
PHOTOS: Newlyn gets keys to new home
"It's pretty easy on the checkbook, you can't beat it," Newlyn said. "Think about having a free house, it's a load off your back, it's amazing."
Newlyn, a staff sergeant with the United States Airforce, was injured during a mission in Baghdad in 2009 after an improvised explosive device hit him. His right leg was amputated below the knee. Newlyn learned how to walk at Walter Reed then decided to rejoin his unit, but with limited duties.
"Once you go through something like that there's a huge fog in your life, but I mean getting a home is kind of like that light that clears through that fog," Newlyn said. "The military was great and everything, but this house is going to be great for moving on with my life."
The home, a three bedroom, two bath home, is located in Elk Grove neighborhood and was remodeled to fit Newlyn's needs.
"(The) only thing he pays for right now is utilities and insurance and if there is some taxes, we're even trying to get those forgiven," said Ret. Lt. General Leroy Sisco, who is the founder of Military Warriors Support Foundation.
The Military Warriors Support Foundation worked with Chase bank to donate the Elk Grove home that was in foreclosure. The foundation has given more than 100 homes during the last six years to people injured in service.
"I wore the uniform 42 years and it's so incredible to be able to still be involved with these heroes," Sisco said. "Taking the uniform off is not that difficult, but walking away from the people that you dealt with all those years, that's the difficult part."
As part of the Military Warriors Support Program all recipients get three years of mentoring to teach them how to own a home.
Newlyn is now adjusting to life in his new home and plans to hang the oversized key above the mantle.
When he retires from the Air Force, he plans to go to Sacramento State to study history.
News10/KXTV