Air Force veteran surprised with new home site in north Spokane
When Christopher Weichman pulled up to a dirt lot on the northwest edge of Spokane on Wednesday morning, his family hopped out of their SUV and hugged each other.
“Wow,” Weichman said. “Wow.”
Weichman, a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, was escorted there by a police cruiser. He was greeted by a crowd of cheering people in hardhats and orange vests.
The site, Weichman just learned, will become the location of his new home.
Housing developer Lennar, with the help of veteran organizations Operation Finally Home and Beyond the Barracks, will build the 1,500-square-foot abode in Lennar’s new Woodridge subdivision in North Indian Trail.
Weichman believed he was merely attending an interview, not knowing he had already been selected for the free house.
Bill Salvesen, Lennar’s Northwest division president, said in a speech the company likes to embrace the motto “tickled, delighted and happy” through a charitable program called Focused Acts of Caring.
“We simply couldn’t be more humbled, grateful and honored to be here with you today and put a shovel in the ground for your brand-new home,” Salvesen said.
“Thank you; this means everything,” Weichman said. “I can promise you this: We will pay it forward … I never would have imagined this or expected this. It’s an honor.”
Weichman is a retired master sergeant and a Bronze Star recipient who was medically discharged from the Air Force in 2018.
He grew up outside Kent, Ohio, and spent the majority of his military career as a SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) instructor, teaching survival and resistance skills to personnel who were at high risk of capture.
Tony Proctor, a friend who served with Weichman in the Air Force, spoke highly of Weichman’s character.
“His heart has always been heavily for the military, for securing America and for being a patriot altogether,” Proctor said.
During combat training in August 2006, Weichman fell 25 feet, injuring his head and neck with extensive nerve damage. Despite these injuries, he continued to serve in various countries in the Middle East. A later parachute jump from a helicopter in Afghanistan hurt his lower back, which caused bulging discs.
As a result of these and other injuries, Weichman suffers from arthritis, degenerative disc disease and chronic pain.
After his retirement from the Air Force, Weichman settled in Spokane, where he previously owned two fitness studios. He operates a survival school called Eternal Warriors Expeditions and teaches self-defense workshops. He is engaged to his fiancée, Carlotta Margheri, and is the father of two daughters and one son from a previous marriage.
Ryan Gilbreath, a pastor at Onechurch, blessed the site before Weichman broke the ground with a golden shovel.
In response to the common refrain, “Thank you for your service,” Weichman quotes retired Marine Corps. Gen. Jim Mattis. “You’re worth it. You’re worth every second of it,” Weichman said. “We’d do it again, every day. So, keep doing what you’re doing, because I promise you we’ll be worth it, too.”