'Made my Christmas:' Volunteers decorate Vietnam vet's home for the holidays

Jeffrey "Doc" Dentice

MUSKEGO -- A local veteran's Christmas was made a little brighter, Thursday; he was surprised by a group decorating his home in Christmas lights -- free of charge.

The decorations didn't just light up Jeffrey "Doc" Dentice's home in Muskego -- they lit up his face.

"All of a sudden a guy comes out and says, 'We're decorating your house patriotic for Christmas,'" Dentice, a Vietnam War veteran, says. "Awesome! As soon as he said that I'm going, I'm lit up, you know."

The vet was surprised the morning of December 12 by a knock on his door while he was in the middle of preparing a Christmas fundraiser for veterans.

Scott Duchin

"You sort of saw his eyes when he lit up," says Scott Duchin, one of the Christmas decorators. "Like he was almost in tears when I knocked on his door."

Dentice was nominated for the "Decorated Family Program" which thanks soldiers for their service by decorating their home for free.

"The older you get, it gets a little rougher on those ladders, so I kind of have been backing off on that and figured now I'm having no lights this year," Dentice says, "and here they are putting lights up."

The red, white and blue lights -- bringing a little joy and patriotism to Muskego.

"You truly made my Christmas," Dentice told the volunteers.

Dentice has been supporting veterans since he retired from the service and says his giving to vets has come full circle.

If you want to nominate a veteran for next year's Decorated Family Program, CLICK HERE.