HOUSTON, Texas – The military service of retired U.S. Army veteran, Sergeant David Flores, was celebrated on Saturday in Houston. The soldier received his own personal Independence Day when he was awarded the gift of a mortgage-free home.

The combat veteran was seriously injured in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in 2005, according to a KHOU report. “It was definitely a rough journey but I got through it and happy to be here today,” Flores told KHOU reporter Alice Barr.

The new home, a mortgage-free gift from the Military Warriors Support Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank, is located in the Houston suburb of Channelview. Flores will now not have to worry about paying for a home while he goes to medical school. Flores served as an Army medic in Iraq. He says he is now looking for a new way to serve his community.

“It’s a new chapter of our lives and it’s just an exciting feeling just to have a home and start a family—hopefully soon,” Flores’ fiancee Sou Meng Heng told Barr.

Flores will move into the home with his daughter and fiancée.

The Military Warriors Support Foundation has awarded several mortgage-free homes to veterans across the United States in conjunction with their donating partners, like Wells Fargo. The foundation’s website states:

Through Homes4WoundedHeroes, our homes donation program, we award 100% mortgage-free homes to combat wounded veterans. This program is also available to Gold Star Spouses of Heroes who have fallen in combat. In addition to the home, each family receives three years of family and financial mentoring so that they may learn the skills necessary to become happy and successful homeowners. This program not only changes the lives of the hero and their family, but it also changes the lives of the generations that follow.

The home was awarded to Flores during the 29th Freedom Over Texas celebration on July 4th. Attendees of the annual celebration responded to the day’s events. “If it weren’t for people who fought and put their lives on the line, we wouldn’t enjoy the freedoms that we have,” Jackie Vida told KHOU.

“We celebrate it for the people that fought for our country,” 9-year-old Nils Bob said.

The celebration ended with a massive fireworks display that used the Houston skyline as a backdrop and a concert featuring country music’s Josh Turner and Clint Black.

Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and on Facebook.