Welcome home, soldier

Danville program sets up job, new home for young, disabled vet

Army Pvt. Jacob Brown's leg was mangled, his wrist mashed and his spleen crushed.   And Brown is one lucky young man.  That's because he is still alive, he has a lovely new wife and he's from Danville.

Brown, 22, returned home three weeks ago to a city that has helped him find a job and a home filled with new furniture. If city leaders have their way, every Danville veteran will enjoy the same homecoming through what is believed to be the first program of its kind in the nation.

"I never imagined that people back home would care so much about my problems,'' said Brown, who was injured two years ago during combat training in Germany. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would pitch together and help me out so much.''

As he spoke, the partially disabled veteran stood in the living room of a freshly painted and brand-new apartment in San Ramon that he and his wife are moving into, rent free, on Thursday with the help of a coalition of citizens, businesses and city officials.

Under Operation Welcome Home, a program started by lifelong Danville residents Mike and Peggy Conklin and embraced by city leaders and businesses, the city plans to honor -- and help -- every veteran who comes home.

And if a veteran doesn't make it home alive, the city will help his or her family.

"We as a city are trying our best to say, 'Thank you,' " said Mayor Newell Arnerich. "It's the least we can do for the sacrifice these young people are making for us.''

In Brown's case, that aid is substantial. The 2000 graduate of San Ramon Valley High is expected to start a job in a few weeks at United Parcel Service arranged by city leaders under Operation Welcome Home. The graveyard shift will allow Brown to attend community college. The same folks have given Brown and his wife, Petra, furniture and household items, from a bed and dresser to dishes and a toaster.

Brown is the first veteran to be so honored. His case promises to be one of the most complicated.

"Jake needs a lot of help -- more than most -- and we're happy to provide it,'' said Mike Conklin, 51, a Danville real estate agent who has two sons in the Army, including one serving in the Middle East.

"Many veterans go away, serve their country and then just quietly come home,'' Conklin said. "Our goal is to honor each and every person who serves and to give assistance to those who need it.''

For many veterans, Danville most likely will issue a proclamation in their honor at a Town Council meeting, hold a reception and offer moral support. But if a veteran needs more, the city is ready to help, Arnerich and Conklin said.

"Whatever your feelings are about a war, these kids grew up on your soccer field and baseball diamonds and then went off to serve this country in war,'' Conklin said. "We want to recognize their sacrifice.''

Danville sits in one of the fastest-growing parts of the Bay Area. But the community of 42,000 retains a small-town ambiance. It's the kind of place where veterans from World War II and Korea meet for breakfast each morning at their favorite downtown haunt, the Rising Loafer.

Peggy Conklin, who while in high school wore a bracelet to commemorate Vietnam veterans missing in action, said Operation Welcome Home is an effort to show better community support for veterans.

"This is something I wish we had done during Vietnam,'' said Peggy Conklin, who co-organized a Bay Area chapter of Blue Star Moms to support military personnel from Northern California.

Brown, a slightly built young man, was driving a humvee during a night training exercise in Germany two years ago when his vehicle collided head-on with a 75-ton tank. He spent about two weeks in a coma.

The Conklins, whose sons knew Brown in high school, organized prayer vigils for him.

Brown has had 10 surgeries, mostly on his leg and wrist. He expects two more in the coming years but may one day walk without a limp.

"For a while, I wasn't sure I was going to make it back here,'' Brown said. "I'm in real good shape, considering I was run over by a tank.''

While he recuperated, his unit was sent to Kosovo for six months. Some of his buddies later shipped out for Kuwait and Iraq.

As Brown split his time between physical therapy and a desk job, he met the woman who would become his wife and started to ponder life after the Army. His medical retirement becomes official in May.

Although he grew up in Danville and wanted to return to the Bay Area, Brown worried it would be too expensive. Operation Welcome Home made it possible.

Brown said he never thought of himself as a hero and only joined the Army to earn money for college. He's a young man with a big smile, a sunny attitude and a love of obscure punk and heavy metal bands. And, like most people his age, he has little idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

But he knows he is home.

"I remember being in the hospital bed in Germany wondering, 'What do I do now?' I felt pretty lost at first. The help from this community makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world. It's like living in a dream.''

E-mail Jim Herron Zamora at jzamora@sfchronicle.com