Wounded vets get in the swing of things

TEMPLE TERRACE - A Bay Area program is changing the lives of war veterans one swing at a time.

About a dozen men meet every Friday at Terrace Hill Golf Club in Temple Terrace. They have a lot in common, but there's one thing that stands above it all.

They're wounded veterans taking life by the horns. The Adaptive Golf program brings this country's heroes together for a free game on the course.

"It gives them something new that they can do that maybe they didn't even think that they were capable of because of a disability that they might have," program organizer Ken Juhn said. "So now they have something they can do with their families, their kids."

Life has been anything but a game for these vets. Most of them are missing limbs and are battling health problems.

Rudy Salas lost his left leg in Vietnam.

"I was zigging when I should've been zagging," Salas said laughing.  "And they got me. I stepped on an Anti-personnel mine."

You'll never hear these men complain. They use solar riders to get around the course. And a professional instructor teaches them the basics of a good swing.

"It's just incredible to know that we are able to do something like this. And then to come out every Friday after that and still compete, be in this and be with everyone else," veteran James Bond said. "It gets better and better everyday."

It's this type of camaraderie that helps these heroes deal with life's journey.

"We talk about our problems, our differences and then the good parts about life," Bond said.

If you're interested in joining the program or want more information, click on over to www.agfofamerica.org/golf/proto/floridaadaptivegolf .