Heartfelt pandemonium reigned supreme on the afternoon of Nov. 18 in Chapman, Kansas. Its population of 1,300 was greatly inflated that day by more than a thousand well-wishers from surrounding towns and a contingent of soldiers from nearby Fort Riley.

Relatives, neighbors, family, friends, veterans and fellow soldiers turned out to watch as Army Spc. Patrick Tutwiler and his family took possession of their completely rebuilt home - courtesy of many volunteers working for ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

The Tutwiler home - along with several other houses, schools and other buildings in Chapman - was destroyed by a tornado that swept through the town June 11. Long before Tutwiler, his wife Crystal, their four children and one nephew got a new home, they received immediate help from The American Legion's Department of Kansas.

"Back in June, when the tornado hit, we contacted post officials to remind them of the Legion's National Emergency Fund," Department Adjutant Chuck Yunker said. Then Mike Ryan, the Legion's veterans service representative at Fort Riley, brought the Tutwiler family to the department's attention.
While serving in Iraq, Tutwiler was shot in the neck by a sniper. To save his life, medics had to shut off blood flow to his brain for several minutes, causing traumatic brain injury. "Then the family's home was destroyed, the wife had undergone a couple of bouts with cancer - they were getting hit big time," Yunker said.

While the Army moved the Tutwilers into temporary housing at Fort Riley, the Department of Kansas in Topeka gave the family $1,400 for clothing, car repairs and a much-needed trip to visit their relatives. The Legion also donated a couple of bicycles and a tricycle to the children.

Ralph Snyder, the Legion's 4th District Commander in Kansas, said the Tutwilers weren't the only ones helped by the Legion after the tornado hit Chapman. "Post 45 in Junction City came up with $1,000 to put on a feed for The American Legion family in Chapman. And The American Legion Riders were the ones who went out and cooked and served the food."

Other Legion posts in the surrounding area - Manhattan, Ogden, Rossville, Junction City, St. George, Salina, Abilene, and Harrington among them - sent food to Post 240 in Chapman, which served as a canteen for tornado victims and command center for FEMA and other emergency-response organizations. "The way I understand it, the Chapman post was feeding 400 people a day," Snyder said. The Legion post in Clay Center donated a generator to the cause, helping keep the Chapman post up and running.

Bob Detrich, commander of American Legion Post 240 in Chapman, said his members voted to pick up the cost to replace flagpoles that had been destroyed in the tornado. "The first benefit we had on Aug. 24th for the schools in Chapman, we raised $10,205," he said. "In the meantime, we've had other donations. For example, Chapman received 140 trees from two nurseries, donated via the Legion post in Rossville."

After the tornado struck, the Chapman post turned its main room into an operations station for the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Dickinson County emergency-response team. "We're definitely community-oriented. We strive to help serve the city, and we've done an outstanding job," Bill Stewart said, Post 240's finance officer. "We're very fortunate to have a very active Legion, Legion Riders and Auxiliary. And when the three of us get together, there just isn't any stopping us. We can do just about anything that needs to be done."
Stewart said that Legion posts and others donated more than food. They sent in clothing, baby supplies, canned goods and more. The Chapman post sorted and stacked supplies. "When they came to get food, they would see all this other stuff, and they would pick up what they needed, and take it back to wherever they were staying," Stewart said.

Tim Heggins, Post 240 adjutant, said that much of the credit for feeding the people of Chapman goes to club manager Lisa Ricker and her husband, Ken. "They did an unbelievable amount of work on their own - 18 hours a day," he said.

Heggins said that when the tornado hit the town, Tutwiler was still recovering from his wounds. "We knew that the family might need help, and we started to figure out what the post's options were - what we could provide."

"It's hard enough when you're junior enlisted, you're deployed, you get wounded, and then something like this happens," Heggins said. "It's like the whole world's been pulled out from under you. And the amount of stress - I can't imagine what that young man must have felt like, sitting in his house with it falling down around him, with the wounds from a sniper still healing."
"The mere fact that the soldier held it together, his family held it together, brings credit upon all members of the armed forces, and what they prepare us for," Heggins said.

The Legion, Fort Riley and "Extreme Makeover" all stepped up to help the Tutwilers in a time of dire need, reaching out to the entire community of Chapman. "Within minutes of the tornado leaving the area, there were ambulances here from as far away as Fort Riley and Salina," Heggins said. "There were fire trucks and electrical crews here within a half hour."

The story of Chapman, Kansas, is the story of how a town survives cataclysm. Those survivors include a wounded warrior and his family. Not only did the Tutwilers get their home rebuilt, but "Extreme Makeover" volunteers also built a new community center and emergency shelter with a grandstand for outdoor concerts. The show provided furniture to other residents, and even moved the flower garden of a 78-year-old woman from her devastated home to her apartment.

For one bright and breezy afternoon, the citizens of Chapman put all tragedy behind them, as they cheered the great fortune of the Tutwilers, who got help from the Legion, the town and thousands of Kansas volunteers.

Re-published from The American Legion Online Update. To subscribe click here.