Volunteers Help Veteran's Widow Spruce Up Yard, Home

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Dozens of volunteers gathered to help a veteran's widow reclaim her yard in Aurora on Tuesday.

Dyanna Aragon's husband, Pete, was a Green Beret, U.S. Army Special Forces, and a member of the Delta Force. Unfortunbately, Pete lost his battle with cancer this past spring.

Dyanna has been grieving and things around her home have been neglected. That all changed on Tuesday when a group of volunteers came to help her reclaim her yard.

Everyone who knew Pete said he was a great guy who touched the lives of everyone he met. They say that volunteering was so much a part of his life it was like his lifeline.

Pete's friends say he would volunteer and then show up hours before the event to help get things started.

Home Depot partnered with the VFW Post #1 to bring more than 60 volunteers at Dyanna's home in Aurora. The volunteers are from about 10 different Home Depot stores throughout the Denver metro area.

Initially the volunteers were just going to repair a badly damaged fence but that quickly evolved into much more.

A Home Depot manager said the more they learned about Pete, the more they wanted to help. Home Depot's foundation does a lot of work with veterans. The organization took $7,500 worth of materials and replaced the fence, added landscaping, refinished the deck and brought in new patio furniture.

All this will benefit Dyanna and the couple's two children, including a son who is serving in the Marines.

Pete died just two months after learning his cancer diagnosis. Pete was only 58 years old. While he was ill, he received letters from Presidents Obama and Clinton and state lawmakers in Colorado.

Dyanna said although she's lost her husband, the family they had in VFW Post #1 continues on.

"Well, they're my family. It helps a lot, a lot, just knowing that they're still here and continuing to be here. You know, every time I have something going on or a project, I mean, they're on it. They just jump up, 'She needs this, she needs that, she needs volunteers,' and it's been amazing, Post 1 has been amazing,"

Team Depot has transformed more than 17,000 homes for veterans across the country in the last four years. Giving back to veterans is personal to The Home Depot, as more than 35,000 of the company's associates have served in the military.