By Scott Dixon
IOWA CITY, Iowa – When David Rollins thinks about his local VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he says he’s amazed at how much it has improved. David served in the Army in Vietnam. When he returned home, he retired from the Army and says the treatment he received from the VA is not what Veterans deserve. He wouldn’t return to the VA until after having his leg amputated in 2019, and that’s when he realized how much things have changed.
In 2017, David developed an infection in his right knee, a complication from an accident several years earlier, and he was told his leg would need to be amputated. After the amputation, David was set on finding a way to get back in the driver’s seat of his truck.
“My wife was driving me all over the place, and I knew she was getting sick of me telling her to ‘slow down,’ ‘speed up,’ ‘turn this way,’” he said.
While shopping around for a modification for his truck, one of the vendors told David to call the VA. David thought because the accident was not service related, he would not qualify for assistance, but the VA was able to help David cover the costs of the mandatory training that came along with the alterations to his truck.
Since then, David says the VA has helped him in many areas, including providing him with a recumbent bicycle and a walking stick. After his third prosthetic gave out, he learned the VA would help him obtain a backup prosthetic as well. He met with a large team of doctors and therapists who helped him find the best device for him.
It was while he was in his prosthetist’s office that he found a magazine article discussing the National Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic. He had tried playing golf in the past but didn’t really know enough about the game to improve. 2024 was his first year at the Golf Clinic, and by day two he saw an improvement in his swing and his enjoyment of the game.
“I’m enjoying being out here with the fellow Veterans and getting the pointers and just talking with Veterans to share experiences.”
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