ELYSIAN — Wounded soldier Jack Zimmerman's friends and family say he almost always has a smile on his face.

The same was true Wednesday afternoon on a plot of land in rural Elysian as person after person lined up to congratulate him on a pretty amazing gift he was being given, as well as thank him for his service and sacrifice. But when it was Jack's turn to speak to a group of family and friends, area community members and media, he had to hold back a few tears behind that smile.

"Thank you," said Jack, 23.

A man of few words, Jack had plenty of people ready and willing to speak to his character and to explain why he and his wife, Megan, are so deserving of the purpose of Wednesday's gathering: to break ground on a new home being built for the couple that will be suited to his special needs.

Standing on a hill off Jason Adam Court near German Lake where the couple will be living by late fall, former Sen. Norm Coleman summed up the shared sentiments of the group.

"(Real heroes) are average folks who recognize a call to duty and respond to it," said Coleman, who flew in from Washington, D.C., for the event. "We're really blessed to have our freedom. But it's not free."

An Army specialist serving in Afghanistan, Jack lost both his legs and three fingers after stepping on an IED March 9, 2011. The Cleveland native has had 20 operations and is undergoing physical therapy to learn how to walk again using prosthetic legs that include mechanical knees.

Jack acknowledged that the last 16 months have been a whirlwind.

"For days I didn't even know what was going on. I was in a coma," said Jack, who married Megan, his high school sweetheart, May 28, 2011, shortly after returning home.

Meredith Iler, national chairman of HelpingaHero.org Home Program, said the organization connected with the Zimmermans through their best friend, Sgt. J.D. Williams, a triple amputee from Kentucky who is also breaking ground on a HelpingaHero.org home this week. Iler said Williams brought the 6-year-old Texas-based nonprofit organization seven of its 30 home recipients this year.

Without a single paid staff member, the organization has built 60 homes in 15 states for severely injured troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The homes for paraplegics, quadriplegics and double amputees are built with roll-in showers, wider doors, lower counters, roll-under sinks, adapted toilets and various other components suited to their needs.

"It's not government funded," Coleman said. "It's all people. It's with their hands, it's with their hearts, it's with love."

Iler said she's gotten to know and love the Zimmermans, and it was her great pleasure to tell them enough funds were raised at last year's annual HelpingaHero.org gala to add them to the list of this year's home recipients.

The home normally would cost between $250,000 to $300,000 to build, but due to in-kind donations from various local companies Ñ and the fact that JackÕs dad, Mark, will be the build supervisor Ñ the cost to build will be between $150,000 to $200,000, Iler said.

Mark spoke to the crowd on behalf of his family, saying succinctly, "It means a lot to our family."

Just how much it means was written on Mom, Lori's, face every time someone new took the podium or approached her with congratulations, including the Disabled American Veterans group that offered $3,000 to help furnish the new house.

"I'm crying already," she said. "They're great kids. They'll use this wisely, I'm sure."

Iler thanked the large group of community members, many in tears, for wrapping their arms around the Zimmermans the past year and a half. And she had one request for the future: "Love on this family for the next 60 years."