Denny has walked a long and complicated road since serving his four tours as a Navy SEAL during the Vietnam War.

Adjusting to life back in the states after eight years of combat in a foreign jungle was difficult enough, but the challenges were heightened by the poor treatment returning veterans received from many of their countrymen after the unpopular war ended.

"It was hard getting back on my feet in civilian life," said Denny, who did not want to use his last name.

He eventually settled in and found work as a carpenter -- a career path he followed for 30 years until the rug was pulled out from under him in 1997, and he found himself homeless.

After 11/2 years on the streets and in shelters, he got back on his feet through a job with the U.S. Forest Service, and he thought everything was going to be OK.

And it was, until he turned 60, lost his job and became homeless again.

That was six years ago, and this time around he has found help from the Columbia Basin Veterans' Coalition and the new transitional house the organization opened in Kennewick to help homeless veterans.

The house opened in August with space for up to seven men, where they can find not only a stable place to live for up to two years, but also counseling, substance abuse programs, job referrals, clothing and food, among other help.

The coalition worked for about a year to get the house opened after hearing a statistic that members found unacceptable -- that as many as 80 veterans were homeless in the Tri-Cities.

Even one homeless veteran was too many in their eyes, but they knew they couldn't help everyone -- at least not right away.

But they could help a few, and they started looking for a house and applying for grants in 2010.

They found a 2,100-square-foot, four-bedroom house under foreclosure being offered by the city of Kennewick through its Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The coalition and the city worked together, and the coalition was able to get the house for free.

Area volunteers, nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity and local companies helped with materials and labor to renovate the house and make it into a comfortable home.

The house was dedicated in August, and named in honor of Daniel Wagenaar and Travis Pfister, two of the Mid-Columbia's fallen war heroes.

Wagenaar grew up in Pasco and Richland, was an Eagle Scout and was studying forestry at the University of Montana before he enlisted in the Army in 1968. He had been in the Army only nine months when he died July 12, 1969.

He was serving as a rifleman on a "friendly force" in Vietnam, but left his armored personnel carrier to help his squad as they came under sniper fire. As the squad retreated, he helped wounded soldiers who were lying on the ground and exposed to sniper fire. As he was providing cover fire so they could be moved to safety, he was shot and killed.

Pfister, a 1997 graduate of Hanford High School in Richland, served three tours as a Marine in Iraq.

He died when his helicopter crashed 20 miles northwest of Baghdad in February 2007. In his last month, he had been on flights that picked up 20 wounded soldiers.

There currently are four men living in the Wagenaar-Pfister house, including Denny and another Vietnam-era veteran, Greg, who also did not want to use his last name.

Greg, 58, said he served in the Army as a Jeep driver in Germany from 1972 to 1975. He came back to the Tri-Cities and worked for Boise Cascade for 30 years before he stopped working because of health issues.

Then his wife left him, and he ended up living out of his car until he came to the veterans' home in late September.

"It was a blessing to find a place to let me have time to get back on my feet," he said. "(The house) holds me accountable but gives me a sense of self-respect."

The coalition is helping him figure out where he might want to go next and what his goals might be. He realizes at 58 that finding work may be tough, but living in the veterans' home is giving him a safe platform from which he can evaluate his future.

"It's been a really tough year, but I'm hopeful," he said.

Denny said he wishes a place like the Wagenaar-Pfister house had existed 40 years ago -- a place where veterans are welcomed, helped and loved.

"Vietnam vets were ostracized. I hid my veteranhood for many years because of that," he said.

He said that at age 66, a new career isn't in the cards for him, but the coalition is helping him find benefits and eventually will help him find his own place. In the meantime, he is putting his carpentry skills to work at the house and following a calling to help other homeless veterans.

"I'm basically retired," he said. "What I want to do until I can't do it anymore is be there for the veterans in one way or another."

Denny said that when he became homeless for the second time six years ago, he landed in a shelter in Wenatchee, where he ended up working for five years as a house manager and cook.

Then about a year ago, he felt called by God to come to Pasco. When he arrived in town, he went to the Union Gospel Mission and learned they needed a cook because theirs had died the night before.

Six months later, he learned about the Wagenaar-Pfister house and signed on to help with the remodel, and has continued help run the house since it opened.

"It has been a real blessing," Denny said of the house in Kennewick. "It's helped me work through some problems I had. I have been able to help the guys who came in here. ... I have always had a feeling or a calling to do something to help the homeless. Now that I'm helping homeless vets, it's even better."

While the house is a start, donations, grants and fundraisers will be required to keep it operating.

Donations to the Columbia Basin Veterans Coalition may be made to CBVC Inc. at 1600 N. 20th Ave., Suite A, Pasco, 99302.