Neighbor Surprises Injured Army Vet By Building Him A Deck

A kindhearted neighbor surprised an injured veteran who lives next door by building him a brand-new deck to relax on. Joel Zylstra, 55, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has known his neighbor, Clyde, and his wife, Tiffany, for around 15 years. Throughout this time, Joel said Clyde and Tiffany have been very kind neighbors, surprising his wife with the likes of a flowering plant on Mother's Day and always showing a friendly face. One day, while Joel was building his own deck, Clyde approached and said he wished he had a small deck to step away from his home, grill, and leave his regular chair too. So, Joel decided to pay it forward and surprise him by building exactly that – and when Clyde, who Joel believes is in his 60s, was in Chicago for the weekend, he got to work. It was during this point Joel also discovered Clyde had a bad back, knees and chronic pain from being an Army paratrooper – something his humble neighbor had never even mentioned to Joel, who didn’t know he was a veteran. Then, on June 15, once Clyde had returned, Joel surprised him with the wonderful new deck, which clearly touched his neighbor.