Where did you serve and what did you do?

RA for 6 years two months Dexheim Germany two years, Costa Rica, Hurricane Hugo, Honduras, DS/DS from Fort Benning GA four years two months, from 03/1986 to 05/1992 Iowa Army National Guard for 19 years, 06/1992 to 06/2011 OIF and OEF.

Tell us how your dog is helping you continue Still Serving in your community.

I don’t actually have trained service dogs but instead four Cavalier King Charles Spaniels! Princess Ruby and she looks like Lady from Lady and The Tramp, Queen Gwenivere who is my girl and helps me the most, she and Princess Ruby are sisters! Princess Ruby is older by 14 months and looks just like their mother and loves to give kisses! Queen Gwenivere looks just like their father King Arthur and loves to cuddle with her daddy, me! Sir-Lance-Alot is our only male now as King Arthur passed away four years ago and he is well trained and will only give kisses on the nose, he is three and a half years old. Princess Isabella is tiny/super skinny and our only digger pup, she is one year and four months old! When I met my second wife, she had King Arthur and the moment I met him I had an immediate connection with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and that they would help me with my PTSD and the TBI I suffered in April 1991! In 1991 they didn’t know or treat TBI’s like they do now. I was not service connected for a TBI until October 2018, 27 and a half years after I suffered it. I suffer serious mood swings due to my TBI and have had no luck getting treatment through a TBI clinic with the VA!

Why do you do it?

I serve in my church because it is great for my soul, I serve as a comrade to my fellow soldiers by staying in touch with them and whenever I recognize a Vietnam Veteran I shake their hand, LOOK them in the EYES, tell them Thank-you for your service and WELCOME HOME! I also share my experiences with my son, my wife, and when my parents were alive, I shared my experiences with them! I also shared my experiences with my ex-wife and during my last four and a half years in the Iowa Army National Guard I served in my community/my ex-wife’s family by spending my drill weekends with her father. He served 23 and a half months as a Como-Chief in Korea during the war and being he too served in the Army he shared his experiences with me! He passed away on Memorial Day 2010 and it wasn’t until after his death that his children, four sons and his one daughter, learned about the HELL he went through during his time serving during the Korean War, The FORGOTTEN WAR!!!