BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Hugs and tears gave way to chants of “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” after Eugene Roberts ran on two prosthetic legs the last few blocks to Baltimore VA Medical Center.

“It couldn’t be a better homecoming; I’m just so thrilled to be here today,” he told several hundred veterans, Veterans Affairs staff and well-wishers Monday after completing his 3,200-mile run across the country. “I just did my thing for Jesus.”

Roberts completed his grueling journey in nine months, with an escort by Baltimore City police and the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle color guard.

The Woodlawn resident, a Marine Corps veteran, lost almost his entire right leg and his left leg below the knee to a booby trap while on a search-and-destroy mission in Vietnam.

Now 62, he spent nearly 40 years struggling with inadequate prosthetics before he met the prosthetic specialty team at Baltimore VA Medical Center.

“It’s an inspiration to see someone set a goal like this and have the perseverance to actually see that goal through to the end,” said Dennis Smith, the center’s director. “It is important both for our Vietnam vets and veterans of the current conflicts.”

From desert temperatures above 120 degrees to torrential downpours, Roberts and his prosthetics took a beating.

He went through three sets of “springs,” the running prosthetics provided by the VA.

Roberts also said he thinks often about the returning and injured veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“My prayers are with veterans,” he said. “God takes care of all of us.”

Once he got a pair of good “legs” under him, the decision to run came naturally, Roberts said.

“I was a runner in high school. I loved to run,” he said. “I was one of the top runners in the mile and two-mile in the state.”

His twin brother, James Roberts, said he was skeptical when Eugene told him about his plan to run across America for Jesus.

“I said, ‘He’s crazy,’ ” James said. “I don’t know anybody who thought he could do it.”

khille@baltimoreexaminer.com