Group Of Veterans Helps Fellow Veteran Get New AC Unit In His Home

A Green Country veteran no longer must rely on fans to keep his family cool.

When a fellow veteran heard the family's air conditioner went out, he mobilized more veterans to do something cool.

The AC unit is about 40 years old, so it is time to be replaced, but Joshua Williams had no idea a group of veterans was going to show up at his home and take care of it for free.

"It was starting to get hotter and hotter in the house,” said Williams.

Since their A/C went out about a week ago, Williams, his wife, their two teenage children and five pets have had to rely on fans for a little relief.

"My youngest son, with his heart condition and everything, the temperatures affect him greater than they would affect you or myself and everything,” said Williams.

Williams asked a fellow veteran if he knew of any options to hopefully get his AC fixed. The veteran Williams talked to passed the information on to another veteran, Dan "Byrd" Rodriguez. One thing led to another, Rodriguez and several veterans showed up with A $5,700 check, enough to replace the old AC that way outlived its life span.

"It was pretty shocking,” said Rodriguez. “I mean, most units last between 15 and 20 years."

Rodriguez is the co-owner of Aire Serv of South Tulsa and is an officer with the Tulsa Chapter of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association.

"We have a network of people if we know and we hear, 'Hey, a vet's in need,' we tap into our resources, each one of these organizations,” explained Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said Soldier's Wish, the Combat Vets Association and Eagle Ops all pitched in money for the AC, while Aire Serv donated labor. Williams said the generosity reminds him of camaraderie from the military.

"For them to come together and everything as quickly as they did for us, it's truly amazing and something I'll be forever thankful for,” said Williams.

Williams said he will never be able to pay back the kindness, but he is going to try to pay it forward.

Here are the groups that helped:

Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association of Tulsa: Combatvetstulsa.com

Eagle Ops: eagleops.org

Soldier’s Wish: soldierswish.org

Aire Serv of South Tulsa: Aireserv.com