Like all triathletes, his challenge is the course, no more, no less

Seldom at a loss for words, Duane Wagner suddenly has difficulty finding the right one to describe his condition.

Technically, he's a double-leg amputee. On May 15, 1967, Wagner lost both in a grenade blast when his 15-man Marine Corps unit was assaulted by the enemy in Quang Tri Province during the Vietnam War.

"If you do your job right, you're not well-liked by the enemy," he says matter-of-factly. "They wanted to eliminate us and overran our position. Five of us made it out alive."

The 20-year-old received a Silver Star, a ticket home, and a couple prosthetic legs. That was more than 42 years ago, but time flies when you're on the run.

And I do mean run.

"I hate the word disabled," Wagner says. "I cannot read unless I put on my glasses. If I want to ride a bike, I need to put on my legs and ride. Disabled? I hate that word."

Then he finds the one he was searching for.

"I'm not disabled," he says. "I have an ... inconvenience."

That inconvenience hasn't prevented him from enjoying his life or from competing in Sunday's Silverman Triathlon, which begins with a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Mead followed by a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run. Wagner is one of 10 injured war veterans scheduled to compete on Veterans Day weekend.

He doesn't mind telling his story. On the contrary, Wagner considers it part of his life's tour of duty. And, after all, there are some topics he can discuss with consummate credibility. Like overcoming physical obstacles as well as those invisible barriers U.S. society places on its inconvenienced population.

"I like showing people that, no matter what's wrong, they can still compete," Wagner says from his Mesa, Ariz., home. "We all do things differently. Just do it. I have been working with injured soldiers from Iraq and other, quote-unquote, disabled people, and I think I've been able to change people's lives in a positive way. We all know someone with a problem. I'm able to show them I can do everything I want to do -- and they can, too."

That includes driving a car with a standard transmission, riding a motorcycle, skydiving and scuba diving. He's traveled the world as an athlete, won national cycling championships, competed in some of the most grueling triathlons in the world. In 1995, he received an ARETE Award for Courage in Sports.

Instead of retiring, Wagner kept on running, cycling, and swimming. He worked for a prosthetic limb company, counseled young people and injured soldiers, made peace with his former war enemies, and served as a reminder of life's amazing possibilities.

Wagner pauses a moment, then tells me a little secret. It's the secret of his success.

He was healing his physical wounds in a Philadelphia hospital in 1967 when he received his first pair of prosthetic legs. It was Aug. 15, three months after that brutal firefight. To prove his doctors and a visitor wrong, he put on his new legs, stood up, and announced he was going for a walk. He was halfway down the hall when he realized he had forgotten his crutches.

Metaphorically speaking, Wagner never looked back.

"The best thing that ever happened to me was losing my legs," he says. "It closed one door in my life and opened up a million more doors. ... I try to show people life goes on. Enjoy it. We all have our problems, but we can live through them. Go on."

In a world brimming with operatic whiners and professional victims, Wagner's candor is refreshing. His perspective on life should be bottled and sold as a cure for the recession blues that afflict this country.

I'll tell him to do just that -- if I ever catch up with him.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.