The bond between soldiers is strong.

After Redmond resident and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gary Metternich, 85, had a stroke, Redmond High JROTC students volunteered to decorate his house for the holidays while Metternich recovers in the hospital.

Metternich, an author and a avid mountain climber, served in the Marine Corps during the Cold War. He has lived in Redmond with his partner, Gale Blanchard, for 13 years. Metternich had a stroke a few weeks ago. The couple’s next door neighbor, Don DeLand — captain of the VFW Post 4108 and vice president of Central Oregon Honor Flight — decided to help out. He connected 10 students from the Marine Corps JROTC program at Redmond High to come over and set up Christmas lights.

Blanchard said her partner is a proud Marine who served as a forward air controller during the Cold War. She said Metternich’s greatest wish was that he could have become a pilot. He is also an avid mountain climber, she said, and a larger-than-life character.

“He climbed peaks in the United States, South America, Mexico and was invited to Everest. He has been an outdoor man all his life,” Blanchard said. “Never sick a day in his life.”

Blanchard said the stroke has been a wake up call for him, but she has already seen some improvements in his health. She said he hopes he is able to make a full recovery.

She recalled that Metternich fell while taking a shower and could not get back up. When she realized what had happened she called her son, who lives nearby, and they tried to help him. Eventually they called paramedics.

“The paramedics arrived immediately and the head paramedic said ‘It’s a stroke.’ He could tell immediately,” Blanchard said. “It was like an hour and a half before he got to the hospital, and every minute counts when you are in a stroke situation.”

That night, when the ambulance came to take Metternich to the hospital, DeLand saw what had happened and wanted to help in some way.

The idea to arrange for Christmas lights started when Blanchard put up an ad on Nextdoor, an online neighborhood networking website, about paying for Christmas lights setup at her home.

“He (DeLand) saw the ad, and said ‘Don’t you dare.’ I will arrange for the VFW to provide you with help hanging the lights. That’s why the kids are here,” Blanchard said. “He’s going to love it. He is going to be so happy, because if he is able to come home for Christmas, he’ll see the house decorated. We are working on the inside now, we are working on the outside.”

DeLand, a Vietnam veterans, said he has known Metternich for about five years. Because he is the youngest, he likes to help all of his immediate neighbors, including Metternich and Blanchard.

“I’m the young one at 75, so I blow out their driveways when it snows and everything with the snow blower and do all that,” DeLand said, laughing.

As he chatted, Redmond High students climbed ladders and strung lights around the exterior of the home.

DeLand said he reached out to their instructor at Redmond High and asked about having students help out. He quipped that he did so to avoid having to do the ladder work. In reality, he did it to help his fellow veteran by surprising him with Christmas cheer upon his arrival home from the hospital.

“This is all volunteer for them (the students) after school,” said DeLand. “As soon as they got done with school they drove over.”

Honore Linn, a junior, and Hayden Andrews and Trason Stadler, both sophomores, were among the students who came to help out.

“We do a lot of community service, but it is always really special when we get to help veterans head on,” Stadler said. “We have community service events like this which are one-on-one with a veteran. They are really really special and I think we cherish them more than anything.”