Carlson: Veteran walks proud, steady on prosthetics

JOHN CARLSON • jocarlso@dmreg.com • July 20, 2008 Blakesburg, Ia. - The whistle brought the cattle on the run through the pasture, to where Richard Gray stood with a bucket of feed. The farmer moved easily around the acreage behind his house a few miles south and east of this Wapello County town. You have to watch closely to spot any hint of a limp. You'd never know Gray lost both legs in a mine explosion when he was a young soldier in Vietnam. His right leg is gone just above the knee. The left was severed at mid-calf. Forty years ago, he got around slowly, his prosthetic limbs little more than bulky chunks of wood. The pain was intense and frequent in those days, the slightest misstep sending him sprawling. Today, it's carbon fiber and microprocessors, the prosthetic devices startlingly close to the real thing. Talk about a... [read full story]