Huge effort rallies to help WWII vet living in squalor

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It's a story we first brought you, earlier this month of an elderly World War II veteran in need of a little help.

He served in the Navy but on Tuesday an army of volunteers has answered the call!

FOX 2: "Do you know 'The Captain?'"

"I actually don't," said a young volunteer. "But this is my first time meeting him, he seems like a wonderful guy."

People who know 'The Captain' know he is a wonderful guy. His real name is Tommie James Glover, but he goes by The Captain. He's 93, a Navy veteran of World War II, and a Purple Heart recipient. 

But as Fox2 showed you earlier, his house was cluttered, messy, and roach infested and his neighbors were worried.  

FOX 2: "You've seen a roach?"

"Yes, I have,' said neighbor Dave Franklin. "Big ones, little one, they are everywhere."

Yet after The Captain's story aired, so many viewers wanted to reach out and help him, especially Judge Shannon Holmes.

"I saw the story and it just touched my heart," Holmes said. "I am a caregiver just by nature. I care for my 83-year-old mother and when I saw him I thought if I'm not a part of the solution I am a part of the problem."

And the judge organized friends, family, court workers and neighbors helped. And she even got an exterminator. 

"He's got German cockroaches in the kitchen, living room area and he has Oriental cockroaches in the basement, we're going to take care of that," said Ed Blumling, Ridder Pest Control. "I did a bedbug inspection, where he sleeps is a little cluttered but we are going to do a bedbug treatment anyway."

The Captain is happy.

"At 93 I didn't know exactly what I would be dealing with but (he's) absolutely receptive and loving and he just touched my heart," said Holmes.

FOX 2: "Captain, what do you say to all these people helping you?"

"I want to cry," he said. "I haven't cried in 93 years but I want to cry."