By JILL MCNEAL
6 News Anchor/Reporter
MARYVILLE (WATE) - An Army veteran and his family are about to lose their Maryville home, if they can't find a way to raise $5,800 in the next week.
"We're running about six months behind on the mortgage and it's going to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps on the 24th," explained Stuart Duke.
He said the problems started when he came back from deployment in 2004.
"Between the death of some friends in Iraq, then my dog died as soon as I got back from some strange disease and I watched her suffer and then a friend of mine was murdered and I broke down," he said.
Duke said he was hospitalized for depression and couldn't hold down his civilian job.
"I wiped out the 401k, I wiped out all our savings just trying to survive," he said.
His wife Beatrice is the caregiver for an elderly friend, but the money isn't much. On top of that, she worries about her husband's condition. "The more stress he's under the worse it is," she said.
If they lose their home, though, the Dukes are most concerned about what will happen to their granddaughter Destany, 14, who's lived with them since she was three. "I just know this as my home," Destany said.
Stuart said when he woke up Tuesday morning, all hope was gone. But then he saw his family's story on the front page of The Daily Times and the community started to rally. Next, he said, a representative from the VA knocked on his door and set up a bank account to take donations.
"It's just good to know we have brothers and sisters out there who have it in their hearts to see us through this hard time," Duke said.
An account has been set up for the Duke family with Y-12 Federal Credit Union. The account number is 877316.
