While some will make the ultimate sacrifice, others are returning from combat injured.

That's what happened to a Vietnam-era veteran from Hallsville, Mo.

Butch Fogle lost the fingers on his left hand in 1970. But after 41 years, a new prosthetic device is helping him do everyday tasks that others take for granted.

A device called ProDigits is the first  to give patients functional fingers.  Paul Jones, D.O. who is a physiatrist at the Truman VA Hospital in Columbia, believes Fogle is the first person in the state to try it.

Inside the glove-like hand, electrodes react when Fogle moves his hand muscles.

The index finger moves independently and the others open and close together.

Because the device is hot and needs to be re-charged, Fogle does not use it all of the time. It also cannot get wet.

Fogle is offering the company feedback on how the device can be improved, but so far it is allowing him to do things he could not do for the past four decades He can drink out of a glass with his left hand, cut meat independently, fold laundry and hammer in a nail.

Doctors hope future prosthetics may allow people to have sensation to feel when they are gripping something.