News - Amputee continues to serve in the Army -- and inspire!

On 21 June 2003, Cpt. Rozelle, commander of F Troop, 3rd ACR, was leading his men on a training mission in Hit, Iraq, when his vehicle hit a land mine which destroyed his Humvee and his right lower leg. 

"It felt as if I were setting my right foot into soft mud or a sponge. I looked down to see blood and bits of bone squeezing out of the side of my right boot. I gave one big push and turned to dive into the arms of two brave men who ran selflessly into the minefield to save me.  My good friend and fiercest warrior, Sergeant First Class John McNichols, grabbed me and said, "Don't worry, sir, I've got you. That was the last time I ever used my right foot."

He was quickly evacuated to a combat support hospital, was flown to Qatar and then to Germany, where he underwent a operations at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center before being taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

During his recovery, his chain of command told him that another command position awaited him if he should recover.  Rozelle took the challenge.  Initially, Rozelle’s rehabilitation focused on skiing and snowboarding. He then expanded his athletic training to include triathlons, completing his first just eight months after he was injured. 

Nine months after his injury, Rozelle rejoined the 3rd ACR as it was preparing to be redeployed to Iraq and became the commander of the Headquarters troop.  In March 2005, almost 20 months after being injured, Maj. Rozelle found himself back in Iraq.  As a result, he became the first soldier to be redeployed to the same battlefield as an amputee in recent military history.

Asked why he accepted a command at a unit that was scheduled to go back to Iraq, he stated: "It is my duty. By accepting command, I knew that I would eventually return to Iraq. I am smarter, stronger, and more ready to help create freedom for the Iraqi people."

Previously, a soldier who lost a limb automatically received a quick discharge and a disability check.  But since the start of the Iraq war, the military has begun holding on to amputees, treating them in rehab programs and promising to help them return to active duty if that is what they want.  So far, the Army has treated over 600 service members who have come back from Iraq or Afghanistan without an arm, leg, hand or foot. Sixty-three soldiers have gone back to active duty, and no one who asked to remain in the service has been discharged.

Now a Major, Rozelle has since returned from Iraq and is serving as the deputy to the program manager for amputee care at Walter Reed and is in charge of construction of the new $50 million Amputee Care Center.  He also works with other  with amputees, counseling them through what he's already been through. A model citizen perhaps, but, he says, he's a model soldier first.

He also continues to run marathons and triathalons.  In October 2006, he finished the Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.  He became the first war amputee to complete the grueling triathlon which encompasses 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running.

His dedication continues to motivate others like 1st Lt. Ivan Castro who just completed the Army Ten-Miler in 1:25 last month. Lt. Castor, a former weapons sergeant in the 7th Special Forces Group with 17 years of military service, is totally blind. He suffered multiple wounds, including the loss of his right eye, the loss of sight in his left eye, and his right index finger, in Iraq in September 2006, after a mortar hit the rooftop where he was providing fire support.  Twenty eight soldiers also ran that marathon that day in a running group that Rozelle founded called: Missing Parts in Action, some Assembly Required.

To tell his story, Rozelle wrote a New York Times Best Seller in 2005 titled "Back in Action: An American Soldier's Story of Courage, Faith and Fortitude."  In describing the modern soldier, he stated:

"We are a generation of people who have come back from this war, and although injured, these young kids have an incredible attitude. Even today, they continue to say, yeah, I would go back to be with my men in a heartbeat. Just give me a prosthetic leg and let me go. That is just an incredible spirit. Patriotism is not dead in our country. These brave men and women show that every day."