MIDLOTHIAN — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brett Mango’s home at 145th and Keeler in Midlothian followed a similar path that he followed while deployed in Afghanistan for the past five years.

What was once broken is now fixed and ready for the future.

Much like how Mango suffered a debilitating back injury while serving, his house suffered major damage while he was gone, as squatters occupied it and undid the hard work Mango had done to fix up his boyhood home.

“I couldn’t even believe what happened in there. They ripped out the walls, they tore all the copper out, they broke my floor. All the hard work I put into the house, they destroyed. I was overwhelmed. We didn’t know where to start,” Mango said during a special house unveiling ceremony Aug. 24.

In an ode to Mango’s character and general giving nature, the town of Midlothian and the union trades gave back. In the past four months, Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters Local 434 and IUPAT District Council 14 donated their time and skills to completely refurbish Mango’s house, making it liveable again.

The house, much like Mango, had been fixed up to its former glory and Aug. 24 was his homecoming.

“We didn’t know what to do, we didn’t know where to start. My uncle, my dad, all the veterans and the town of Midlothian came together and — look at it.

“I can’t give back what they gave. They gave their time to me. I’m just proud to be part of this community and I can’t wait to help the next person,” he said after he proudly raised the flag in front of his yard.

About 100 people gathered there after a motorcycle parade from American Legion Post 691, where Mango’s uncle, Paul Klimczak, serves as commander.

“These people made this a home for this family. And this community made this a place for them to live and raise their kids. I’d just like to thank everybody who helped out,” said Klimczak, who got the ball rolling on the home rehab, calling Bruce Nelson, business representative for the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters.

“The spirit of the people who worked on this, the determination of the people to get it done — 7 o’clock last night, we still had people working on the gutters and fascia to get this done, everybody who came out here did whatever had to be done, all we had to do was ask.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the people who were on this, especially my apprentices with the carpenters union,” said Nelson. “Thank you all for helping, thank you all for being here.”