Stories

Since Luptak was a young boy, he wanted to be a soldier. He enlisted in the Indiana National Guard at the age of 17. In 2007, he served a 15-month deployment to Iraq where he performed dangerous route clearing missions such as removing bombs to create safer passage for U.S. troops. While stationed in Colorado in 2010, he met his wife and then received a temporary assignment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he trained cadets on route clearance operations. A second deployment in 2011 sent him to Afghanistan, where Luptak trained Afghan police on these same procedures. During his deployments, he survived repeated engagement with enemy forces but was severely wounded. He was exposed to dangerous toxins from burn pits, and when he was examined prior to surgery for his combat injuries, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Luptak underwent chemotherapy and is in remission. He was medically discharged in 2017.

“March 2023 marks 20 years since the beginning of the Iraq war. There have been a lot of sacrifices made by our military personnel and so it's really fitting during this time that we can present Xanthin and his family with their new home,” said President of Freedom Alliance Tom Kilgannon. 

Freedom Alliance provides mortgage-free homes, specially outfitted wheelchairs, home repairs, vehicles, and scholarships to students of military personnel who are injured or killed in service. There is an application and screening process to match and award homes such as the one presented to Luptak.

“I feel nothing but a clean slate in moving forward with a better future,” said Luptak. “So, how do I feel? Amazing. Just blessed and amazing.”