The Recer Family

U.S. Army Private First Class J.A. Recer was born and raised in Texas. His family moved to McKinney, Texas when he was in the seventh grade and he graduated from McKinney High School in 1966. He met and married his wife, Allison, in April of 1967 before he was drafted in June of the same year. He served one year in Vietnam before being medically retired as a result of his injuries.

J.A. came under rocket and mortar attack in February of 1968, while on guard duty at base camp in Pleiku, Vietnam. He remembers the first mortar striking behind him and seeking cover in a nearby bunker but recalls very little else about the attack. He later learned that a truck he was using for cover near the bunker was hit as he moved around it.

After the attack, he was medically evacuated to Cameron Bay, Australia and then to Japan before returning home to Brooks Army Hospital in San Antonio for further treatment.  The attack left him 100 percent blind in his left eye and legally blind in his right eye.

For his service, Recer was awarded a Purple Heart, a Vietnam Campaign Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, and a National Defense Medal.

Upon his medical retirement, Recer returned home, and he and Allison started a family. The couple moved back to McKinney in 1980. After 53 years together, J.A. and Allison have two adult children and five grandchildren. They are both retired. J.A. is an active member of the McKinney VFW and has served as Commander of the McKinney Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) for three years.  The couple’s oldest daughter, Peggy, is their caregiver and she and her 18-year old daughter lives with J.A. and Allison.

Operation FINALLY HOME along with HIghland Homes and Huntington Remodeling are proud to partner in providing U.S. Army PFC J.A. Recer and his family a mortgage-free, ADA-compliant home in McKinney, Texas.