Disabled man rollin' down river to benefit veterans

Robert Van Vranken II started rolling downhill weeks ago in northern Minnesota.

The amateur blues guitarist doesn't plan to stop until the wheels of his electric wheelchair hit the Gulf of Mexico in about seven months.

Van Vranken, 52, dipped the back wheels of his chair into the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park on Memorial Day, the start of a 2,000-mile trek to raise awareness about disabled veterans.

On Wednesday, Van Vranken made it to the Twin Cities metropolitan area, stopping in Elk River on his way south.

"I'm not a veteran, but I know a lot of veterans," said Van Vranken, of St. Louis Park, who goes by the nickname "The Rolling Dutchman." "I just want to say thank you."

He is doing so by stopping at every American Legion, VFW post, military base and veterans cemetery he can find on his trip, part fundraiser and part sightseeing trip.

Van Vranken, who lost his leg in an automobile accident four years ago in Minneapolis, especially wants to raise awareness about mobility issues disabled veterans face. "I can relate to that," he said.

"We wish The Rolling Dutchman well on his journey down to the Gulf," said Jeff Alger, department adjutant for the Minnesota chapter of DAV. "People often step up to help vets. I think it's a sense of patriotism. We certainly appreciate anyone helping us out."

In 2007, Van Vranken, who also goes by "Dutch," made a similar journey for a similar reason on the group's behalf, traveling by wheelchair from Minneapolis to New York just months after his accident.

Van Vranken, retired from Northwest Airlines, where he was a ground services crew chief, is not taking any of the money he raises for himself or to pay for his trip. He is riding an electric wheelchair with a top speed of about 9 miles per hour with a battery life of about 10 hours. He hopes to dip his front wheels into the Gulf in six or seven months.

"It is going a lot faster than I thought," said Van Vranken, who on Saturday will sit in with a musical group called Mr. Blue at Grumpy's bar in northeast Minneapolis.

"That's sort of a bon voyage," said Van Vranken, who also will sit in with musicians he knows when he arrives in New Orleans. "I'd like to get down there when there's not an oil slick. Maybe I should go down there and clean it up."