Army veteran awarded new home in New Jersey

FLORENCE, N.J. (WPVI) -- With the balloons in place, the American flags waving in the wind, and a big red bow on the front door, the stage was set to give back to a true hero, Army Staff Sgt. Mario Murray.

Murray joined the service in 2005 and was wounded in 2011 when his base was attacked in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, he was awarded with a brand new home to call his own.

The fully furnished home in Florence, New Jersey is big enough for the Staff Sgt., his wife and three children.

It has four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a yard.

It was all for a service member who put his country first.

"They kept calling me a hero, but these guys are my hero for stepping up to give back to freedom, to help out the people who serve our country and come home injured," Murray said.

The mortgage-free home is made possible through Operation Finally Home and the PulteGroup.

"It's not the gift of a new home because he paid for this home in a way that I would not want to have to pay," Lee Kirgan of Operation Finally Home said.

"To see it all come together and see the family's reaction they go through, it's priceless, it's exactly what we hoped for," Steve Schlageter of the PulteGroup said.

The Murrays say having a place to call home means the world to them and this Staff Sgt. says its confirmation his service has not been forgotten.

"We're excited that so many people came out to be a blessing for us, we're humbled that they took the time to say thank you for what we did," Murray said.

The Murrays say they are glad to move to the Delaware Valley because it puts them closer to home.

Staff Sgt. Murray actually grew up in Washington DC.

Believe it or not Staff Sgt. Murray is an accomplished musician so he hopes to become a music teacher at a local school.