Army Sgt. Leroy Scott is in the process of ordering his other prosthetic legs: running leg, shower leg, swimming leg.
It’s a sign that Scott, a 37-year-old medic, will in a few weeks leave Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and return home to his wife, Shelia, and three boys in Falcon.
“Trust me,” Scott says. “I’m ready.”
Scott’s right leg had to be amputated below his right knee after the armored vehicle in which he was riding last summer in Iraq was struck by a roadside bomb. His left leg had to essentially be rebuilt; he also suffered a fractured skull, five broken ribs and a collapsed lung and dislocated hip.
“I’m lucky this is all I have,” Scott said in a telephone interview from Walter Reed. “There’s always somebody worse than you, and I’m not just saying that. I consider myself lucky.”
It is that kind of sacrifice that Lois Pope, a philanthropist who has a home in Snowmass, hopes to capture through the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington.
Pope, a Florida resident, is spearheading an effort to raise $65 million for the memorial that will honor people like Scott and more than 3 million other Americans disabled in wars. President Clinton approved building the memorial, with the proviso that no government money be spent on the project. So far, $20 million has been raised.
Pope, the widow of National Enquirer founder Generoso Pope Jr., established a nonprofit foundation to raise money for the memorial. It will feature a star-shaped reflecting pool, its surface broken only by a single eternal flame. A grove of trees will stand beside the pool, signifying the persistence of hope.
In the late 1960s, Pope, then an actress on Broadway, was asked to do a benefit performance at the Rusk Rehabilitation Center for disabled veterans.
“What I saw that day … it stunned me. Before me were men that were blinded, burned almost beyond recognition, dismembered, and some were lying on litters.”
She performed “Somewhere” from “West Side Story,” and as she sang the lyrics, “Hold my hand and I’ll take you there,” she looked down and saw a man who had no hands.
“I started to cry,” she said. “He smiled at me, and it really changed my life. I had about $1.37 to my name then, but I promised myself that day, that if I ever could, I’d help him and his band of brothers.”
Scott said he supports the building of the memorial but it is important to honor all who have fought.
“What’s more important is not to dishonor people who have fought for America. I think that’s the most important thing. I’ve seen these people at the funerals and I’ve seen a lot of liberal newspapers and I can only say that I think it’s important not to dishonor us. We fought hard.”
Contributions to the Life Memorial may be made to the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation Inc., 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 302, Arlington, VA 22201-3367.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.