Military veteran honored with a free home

HBAMT members Ole South Properties and U.S. Bank have partnered with Freedom Alliance to honor one of our nation’s heroes with the gift of a mortgage-free home. U.S. Army Sergeant Xanthin Luptak and his family received the keys to their new home during a ceremony held last month at their new home.

The life-changing gift is made possible by a donation by U.S. Bank through its Housing Opportunities after Military Engagement (H.O.M.E.) program, in conjunction with Freedom Alliance’s Heroes to Homeowners program. Since 2013, U.S. Bank has donated 22 homes valued at $4.8 million to deserving military families in thriving communities across the country.

Sergeant Luptak’s service to our country began in 2004 when he secured his mother’s permission to enlist in the Indiana National Guard at age 17. The following year, he moved to active duty and was stationed at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks where he used the island environment to train in jungle warfare. In 2007, at a pivotal time in the war, he served a 15-month deployment to Iraq. Using his skills as a combat engineer, he performed dangerous route clearing missions in which he and his team removed hidden bombs in order to create safer passage for U.S. troops.

In 2010, while stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, Xanthin met Jessica and they would later marry and start a family. During that time, Xanthin was proud to receive a temporary assignment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he trained cadets on route clearance operations. Xanthin also trained Afghan police on these same procedures while in Afghanistan in 2011. During his deployments, he survived repeated engagement with enemy forces but was severely wounded. While overseas, Xanthin was exposed to dangerous toxins from burn pits and when he was examined prior to surgery for his combat injuries, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He underwent chemotherapy and is in remission. He was medically discharged in 2017.

The new home was constructed by locally owned and operated builder, Ole South, which is consistently recognized by Builder Magazine as being one of the Top 100 Home Builders in the country. n

About U.S. Bank: U.S. Bancorp, with approximately 77,000 employees and $675 billion in assets as of December 31, 2022, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association. The Minneapolis-based company serves millions of customers locally, nationally and globally through a diversified mix of businesses: Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; Corporate & Commercial Banking; and Wealth Management and Investment Services. MUFG Union Bank, consisting primarily of retail banking branches on the West Coast, joined U.S. Bancorp in 2022. The company has been recognized for its approach to digital innovation, social responsibility, and customer service, including being named one of the 2022 World’s Most Ethical

Companies and Fortune’s most admired superregional bank. Learn more at usbank. com/about

About Ole South: Ole South Properties is Tennessee’s largest home builder.* Our Founder and Owner, John Floyd, started his career in Real Estate at the age of 23 and has experienced firsthand how providing a quality home is not just the right thing to do, but also a good business model to follow. Since inception in 1986, Ole South has been dedicated to providing the very best new home value to families in Middle Tennessee areas such as Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Fairview, Pleasant View, Shelbyville, and Spring Hill. Ole South, headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and independently owned, is proud to be recognized among the Top 100 Home Builders in the nation. Learn more at OleSouth.com

About Freedom Alliance: Freedom Alliance is a charitable organization providing help and support to wounded troops and military families. Freedom Alliance has awarded more than $20 million in college scholarships to children of heroes killed or disabled in military service and spent millions more helping injured veterans and their families with outdoor recreational therapy trips, Heroes Retreats, care packages for deployed troops, mortgage-free homes, all-terrain wheelchairs and much more. Learn more about Freedom Alliance at FreedomAlliance. org or facebook.com/FreedomAlliance n