Growing up in Inner Grove MN Kyle Anderson was like a lot of guys. He played sports, rode bikes and made great friends. His best friend was Seth Anderson (no relation). Kyle finished his H.S. wrestling career as the MN state champ! He then joined the Marines and went to Iraq. In October 2004 Kyle was shot with a rocket propelled grenade. He had a very low chance of survival. They ended up removing a large portion of the left lobe of his brain. They had to recreate a skull for him. He also lost his right hand. His friends back home were shocked. When they finally got to see him more than a year later they were shocked again to see how different Kyle was. Physically he was scarred almost beyond recognition. But he also struggled to communicate. It took years to teach Kyle how to speak again.
Walgreens gave him a shot and now the guy who was voted "Most Popular" in his high school, the former wrestling champ. and American war hero Kyle stocks shelves. His friends have stuck by his side.
They helped buy him a house a few years ago. Now they gave him another gift. As Kyle continues rewiring his brain more of his old personality has returned. He was joking about how they always imagined having cool man caves when they grew up.to host the coolest keg parties. His friends took it to heart. They told Kyle he couldn't go into his double car garage till further notice. While he worked at Walgreens they worked with 25 contractors to transform the garage into the coolest man cave ever. Chris Biljan, owner of Great Northern Builders, was one of the contractors who transformed Anderson’s garage into the ultimate man cave, with new floors, a massive TV, a Marine-themed pool table, couches, sports memorabilia of his favorite teams and of course a fully stocked bar complete with a built in keg tap.
When they held the "grand opening" with all the pomp including speeches and the cutting of a red ribbon, Kyle was overwhelmed with emotion.
Chris said "If a guy can go through all of that, and be that positive, have that kind of outlook on life, why not do something like this for him? He's an inspiration to every single person he meets".
That includes everyone of his childhood friends who say they're lives are better for knowing him and our country is better for the sacrifice he made.