RICHARDSON - Strangers worked nearly a month readying a house for the arrival of a new neighbor - a soldier wounded in Iraq and returning home for good.

Not to the apartment she once lived in with her family but a home.

The anticipation in this east Richardson neighborhood equaled that of any soldier's homecoming: nervous energy, lines of people holding American flags.

Then the arrival.

WFAA-TV

The house was a surprise for Razan Saied.

But this is a homecoming in the truest sense. You see, Army specialist Razan Saied doesn't know all this is hers.

It has been renovated by neighbors she hadn't met until today and donated by the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes. Saied is a hero.

"I wish my friends were here to see this. I miss my friends," she said.

Namely, the best friend she lost in Iraq in the same Humvee accident that left Saied with a traumatic brain injury and broken bones. Nerve damage leaves her limping toward her surprise.

"I love this country. I love America. What pain I have is worth it, every bit," she said.

She is greeted by new friends. She is a former Iraqi, now an American citizen, who joined the Army to help free her country. And what was once a lone family - with her husband and three children - has a new family. They're called neighbors.

"I can accept it now... I wanted so bad a house for my family," she said.

Saied's new home is nearly twice the size of her apartment - paid for and furnished by donations.

E-mail mjepson@wfaa.com.