Pursuing a lifelong dream to learn
- davdigitalweb
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
By M. Todd Hunter
Like many interservice jokes in the U.S. military, the one about airmen and their proclivity toward golfing while on duty is full of well-intended jest and a monumental exaggeration. That stretching of the truth certainly applies to Air Force Veteran April Schmidt, who never once swung a club during her six years in uniform.
In fact, she has never hit the links in her life, but that’s all about to change at this year’s National Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic in Iowa.
“I have no history playing golf, but I've always had an interest in wanting to learn,” said Schmidt, who’s a first-time participant at the clinic, which is co-presented by DAV and the Department of Veterans Affairs. “I look forward to getting to know different participants and instructors and finding out what else we’re capable of doing.”
Schmidt is a physical therapy patient at the Iowa City VA Medical Center because of lingering back issues stemming from her time working on flight control systems on F-111s and F-15s, which required heavy lifting and constantly having to contort her body to fit in tight spaces. Her most prominent service-connected issue, though, occurred when she suffered a knee injury during an exercise in Korea.
“Over time, the damage got worse and worse,” Schmidt, 51, said. “I ended up having to have both of my knees replaced within the past year.”
Like many, rehab hasn’t been easy for Schmidt, but she credits her VA counselors with helping her get to a place where she’s ready to pursue a longtime desire.
“I’m so glad that I was able to get to the spot where I really try not to look at what I can’t do and instead look at what I can do,” she said. “If you can’t figure it out, work with your counselor, work with your family or work with your friends. But you have to reach out, and a lot of times I think that’s what’s hard for Veterans.
“Veterans and non-Veterans need to know just because you have—I don’t even like to call them disabilities—you have different issues in your life doesn’t mean you don’t have the ability to do other things.”