American Legion Family Day, which took place at Danville American Legion Post 210 on Saturday, is being called a big success. Bill Pickett has the story….
It offered information about a variety of programs that help veterans while also providing family fun…including bands and games for kids.
State Representative and Marine veteran Brandun Schweizer was spreading the word about ‘BE THE ONE’, a whose goal is to reduce veteran suicides…
{AUDIO: “What that’s all about is finding ways to talk to veterans. Give them a call, ask them how they’re doing, and really making sure that they know you’re there for them. The website itself has different signs to look for if you think a veteran is struggling. So I’d ask everyone to go to that website.”}
Schweizer believes the program plays an important role…
{AUDIO: “Because a lot of us veterans…hold our emotions in. We don’t like to talk about them, and we can really kind of struggle in silence. And so when you have someone reach out to you, asking you how you’re doing, letting them know that they’re there for you, really makes us feel good.”}
(Operation Honor Guard was another program providing information.)
Mission K-9 Warrior was another program being spotlighted Saturday.
Dave Hughes is the president and founder of Mission K-9 Warrior and says the training is not cheap….
{AUDIO: “Each dog is about 20-thousand dollars. And each dog – it varies from dog – it can be six months. It could be a year – it depends on the dog. And the veteran gets trained right along with the dogs.}
Hughes says each dog is trained to recognize the veteran’s particular triggers…
{AUDIO: “My service dog, when I get an anxiety moment, might be in a big crowd – you know. He will nudge me, and sometimes he will crawl right up on my lap and stick his nose in my face. But he senses that – and he’s trained for that.”}
The service dogs help veterans who have been through combat situations. Since the program started ten years ago, forty-two dogs have been teamed with local veterans. Hughes says more veterans have applied locally for a dog, but he says the program needs more funds to provide them. If you would like to help visit www.missionk9warrior.org.
