Ohio Army vet on road to redemption finally has a home to call his own

By Ashley Kirklen

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    HAMILTON, Ohio (WLWT) — Tears of joy fell from the faces of a Greater Cincinnati couple Monday.

“I think I just shed about two, or three months’ worth of tears, it’s been a very, very, very long road for us,” Boyd Winkler III said.

That road led Winkler and his fiancée, Brandy Miller to homelessness. They’ve been living in and out of a hotel for three years.

“We had to get a spot where I could walk to work every day, and we did. We just dug, dug our heels. I told her, I promised her that I’d get her in the house I promised, and we did, and there it is,” Winkler said.

Winkler is an Army veteran who served in Kosovo in 1999.

James Robinson Sr. is a Gold Star father and CEO of Combat Outpost Robinson, an organization helping veterans in need. He heard of Winkler’s story from a friend and knew he had to help.

“If we hear about a veteran that’s in trouble and needs something, if they don’t find us, we try to find them,” Robinson said.

Winkler celebrated five years clean from a heroin addiction, and today, he’s celebrating in his new home.

“It can be done. It can be done; you have got to want it, and I more than want it,” he said.

Winkler and Miller say it feels like Christmas morning. They’ll live in the home with their teenage daughter.

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