Where did you serve and what did you do?
I am a former Army Medic and I deployed to Syria. I treated many civilians and set up clinics for immediate medical care. I also was responsible for treating US personnel injured in combat. After the deployment I spent a year training medics from all branches as well as non medical personnel in Combat tactics and TCCC. After I got out I became a contractor and spent a majority of my time training military personnel in Tactics and tactical medicine.
Tell us how your dog is helping you continue #StillServing in your community.
My German Shepherd saved my life on 12/12/2020. I was just medically retired from the military, we were in the midst of a pandemic, my wife left me and I watched my best friend (who was a veteran) die all within 6 months and I couldn’t take it anymore. I was in my kitchen and I decided to end my life after I couldn’t get ahold of anybody to say goodbye. I sat on my kitchen floor and right before i could end my life my German shepherd ran from across the house and put his head to my ear and wouldn’t leave. He is my service dog, my companion, and of course my best friend. If it wasn’t for him I would not be here. Today I work for in finance helping Veterans as well as civilians budget their money and show them how to make smarter financial decisions.
Why do you do it?
Being a Veteran is being apart of a unique fraternity. A fraternity of understanding, that transcends generations. Only can a WW2 Veteran and a GWOT Veteran find common ground and are able to understand the struggles as well as the successes. This cannot be said for most people of similar ages who are civilians. I love that even though I’m not on Active Duty anymore, I still feel like I’m apart of something greater then myself. And I will always strive to help a fellow veteran because Its who we are and its what we do.