Jerry Holliman followed in the footsteps of the men in his family and joined the military.
He volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War. “I served for the flag. The flag is the only thing that unites us people,” he said, according to his bio page on purplehearthomesusa.com.
Holliman, now 69, served as a squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division over in Vietnam, but stayed in the service long after that. He participated in 37 convoy missions in Iraq from 2004 and 2005, where he was badly injured in a mortar explosion. He was the recipient of the Bronze Star from his service in both Vietnam and Iraq, according to his discharge papers, the Clarion Ledger reported.
In 2010, he was honorably discharged after 40 years in the Army with the rank of Sergeant Master.
Adjusting to civilian life wasn’t easy, he said on his bio. “There was no cool down period once you left the military. You return to society in the middle of a fever pitch,” he said. “Over time, you just have to adjust to that.”
And things for Holliman have gotten worse since then. He said just two days before Christmas, his prosthetic legs were repossessed.
“I went into Vietnam in 1970 and stayed in the military until I was 60 years old. This is ridiculous. Insane really,” Holliman told The Daily Mail. “You spend so long, doing something for your country, and you expect it to do something in return, but it doesn’t happen.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] “wouldn’t pay for his prosthetic legs, Holliman said, and Medicare wanted him on the hook for co-pays,” the Ledger reported. “As Holliman tried to navigate what felt like a maze of paperwork, it felt like his country was forgetting him.”
“Medicare did not send me to Vietnam,” Holliman said. “I was sent there by my country… with the understanding that if something bad happened to me, that it would be covered by the VA.”
Matthew Gowan, a spokesman for the VA, took issue with Holliman’s version.
“While we can’t get into specifics due to privacy concerns, VA was not involved in this equipment purchase and we ask that you include this information in your story accordingly,” he said. “VA’s Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service, which also has more than 600 local contracts with accredited orthotic and prosthetic providers, stands ready to deliver comprehensive support to optimize health and independence of our Veterans. If eligible veterans do not wish to take advantage of these services, VA is unable to intervene and correct issues arising with personal purchases.”
Holliman said he was exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical the American military used to kill vegetation in the jungle that is known to cause cancers and diabetes. He said he has survived three types of cancer, but in recent years, diabetes began affecting his legs, which then needed to be amputated at the knee.
He moved from his home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to a nearby veterans home temporarily until he got his mobility back, the Ledger reports. He was also fitted with artificial limbs, provided, he says, by the Hanger Clinic.
“After undergoing a few rehab sessions, he said he was then told by Hanger staff that the VA wasn’t paying for the limbs. He said the home wasn’t able to help and that his last hope was with the federal government,” The Mail said. “With the price of prosthetic limbs typically in the thousands, Holliman says he was encouraged to file a claim with Medicare, which leaves him responsible for a co-pay, which he refused to pay.”
On December 23, he says Hanger sent an employee to adjust the limbs and have him sign Medicare paperwork. When he refused, the artificial limbs were reclaimed.
‘He was always under the impression, “These were my legs,”‘ his son Jerald told the Ledger. ‘What he’s done for his community, his country … for them to have taken these legs is an insult.’
After he went to the media, the legs were returned to him. But he says he still can’t wear them because, technically, he still doesn’t own them. He also said he was denied the adjustments he needed for using the prosthetics. “They’re not going to do anything to them until the VA pays them,’ Holliman says he was told.
“I’m going through deep depression. I really want to throw in the towel,” Holliman said. “It’s because of them repossessing my legs like that. I was going through therapy to try and get up and go home. It’s not even worth it anymore.”