CHARITY YANKS FREE HOUSE TO VET OVER POT BUST

Branson, Mo. - Newlyweds Scott and Samantha West drove their SUV
through the gate of the exclusive housing community, winding upward to
an empty cul-de-sac that offers commanding views of the surrounding
valleys.

For months, the young couple visited this site and dreamed of their
bright future, ever since a charity that serves wounded veterans
announced last year it was building a house for Scott at no charge.

The gift, like his new bride, seemed heaven-sent to Scott West, 23,
who had lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq in December 2005. The
new home would feature wide hallways, voice-activated lighting and
other amenities tailored to Scott's needs.

And when a developer offered to give the Wests a free lot in
Saddlebrooke, a community where house prices range from $350,000 to
more than $1 million, the couple thought it was too good to be true.

"This was a place where I thought I could live the rest of my life and
never have to worry," West said.

On this night, the couple didn't linger long at the vacant lot. The
winter wind was bitter. So too, are the memories.

In January, just two days after the couple had returned from their
honeymoon, the charity took back its gift after learning that Scott
West had been arrested on marijuana charges in 2007 and pleaded guilty
in December to a felony of possession with intent to distribute. Last
week, a judge placed West on five years probation.

West acknowledges that he deserved to be punished. Despite his guilty
plea, he insists he never sold marijuana. He believes the charity,
Massachusetts-based Homes for Our Troops, overreacted. "It was
something to help me," West said of the donated house. "It wasn't like
a privilege to be taken from me."

Homes for Our Troops founder John Gonsalves did not respond to several
requests for an interview. The nonprofit organization has built more
than three dozen homes nationwide since it was established in 2004. It
has about two dozen more homes under construction.

A spokeswoman for the charity said it was grateful for West's service
and sacrifice. She described the decision to drop West from the
program as the most painful Gonsalves has had to make.

"It hurts him; it haunts him," spokeswoman Vicki Thomas
said.

Not Who He Is

Scott West said he never tried alcohol in high school and only used
marijuana once. Then he graduated, joined the Army and reached his
first duty station at Fort Stewart, Ga.

"I was drinking and smoking a week later," he said.

Within a month, he deployed to Iraq where alcohol, marijuana and
hashish were available, he said.

West served as a reconnaissance scout in the 3rd Infantry Division.
Three days before he was scheduled to leave Iraq, a roadside bomb
detonated beneath West's Humvee while on patrol. He spent 14 months
recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he
learned about Homes for Our Troops. He decided to apply.

He returned to Branson in February 2007 and moved into a two-bedroom
condominium he had purchased with a $100,000 insurance payment he
received for his injuries. He was lauded in local news reports,
granted honorary membership in local veterans organizations and spoke
to elementary and high school students about overcoming adversity. And
he smoked marijuana.

In October 2007, a police officer pulled West and two friends over for
driving without headlights or license plates.

That very day, West said he had cashed the first of his monthly $4,000
disability checks and had gone to an electronics store to buy a
65-inch television, a laptop computer and other electronics. The
purchases were in the back of a pickup he'd recently purchased.

On the way home, he picked up a friend, who, West said, had gone to
buy marijuana for the group.

The police officer smelled marijuana and asked to search the vehicle.
He reported finding 2.5 pounds of marijuana in several containers, a
scale and several pipes. (It would later be determined the actual
amount of marijuana was less than 12 ounces.) The officer also found
$800 in cash on West.

The Sheriff's Department seized the electronics, cash and the truck,
which was later repossessed. West spent three days in the Taney County
Jail. "I'd never been in trouble," he said.

Two weeks later, West ran into Samantha Eubanks at the local Wal-Mart.
They recognized each other from attending the same high school. Not
long after they met, he told her about his legal problems.

"I didn't meet a drug dealer," she said. "That's not who Scott is. I
met the real Scott."

She described him as outgoing, kindhearted and upbeat despite all
that's happened. Still, she told him she wouldn't put up with any drugs.

About two weeks after they met, West traveled to Brooke Army Medical
Center in Texas for more surgery on his leg. On many nights, he would
fall asleep while talking to Samantha on the phone. He returned to
Branson and enrolled in a substance abuse recovery program. In March,
he proposed.

Then in May, Homes for Our Troops, notified West of his selection for
a free home. He signed a contract in July. "They never asked about the
arrest or any past information," West said. "I answered all their questions."

Meanwhile, the criminal case was moving forward.

West's attorney, Barney Naioti, said West was more likely to receive a
lenient sentence if he didn't fight the charge, so West pleaded guilty
to the felony, even though he says the drugs were for his personal
use. A prosecutor said West's plea speaks for itself.

Soon after, the Springfield News-Leader published a story about West
receiving the home. Afterward, the reporter received an anonymous tip
about West's conviction and called him to ask if it was true. West
said he explained what happened and thought nothing more of it.

While Samantha and Scott were on their honeymoon in Jamaica, the
newspaper contacted the charity, which was unaware of West's legal
problems. When the couple returned home, West's voice mail was filled
with messages, including from Homes for Our Troops.

When he called the organization, West said Gonsalves told him he was
rescinding the free house and lot because of the legal troubles.

The following day, the News-Leader ran a story about West losing the
home because of his drug arrest. West said he didn't want to be seen
in public. "I was embarrassed and ashamed."

'A Different Road'

The couple still resides in West's small condo, where it's difficult
to use a wheelchair. At night, when he removes his prosthetics, he
walks on his hands. That makes it difficult to reach the sink or
thermostat, or open cabinets or the refrigerator.

Robert V. Holland, a Navy veteran of World War II and a member of a
Disabled American Veterans chapter in the Branson area, said many
veterans used drugs to get through combat. Adjusting to civilian life
afterward isn't easy, he added.

"It's a trap that it seems that not only him, but others fall into,"
said Holland, 85. "But they went over there and fought just like I
did."

West said he is sorry and feels he let many people down. He had hoped
to have a new home, go to college, have children. Those plans seem
less certain. For now, he delivers pizzas.

"What I did will have consequences for years to come," West said. "I'm
going to have to travel down a totally different road now."