Amputee

May 24, 2009

CCI Places First Facility Dog At A Major Wounded Warrior Medical Care Center

Al , , , , , Service Dogs

I attended the Canine Companions for Independence Southwest Regional Center (SWR) graduation in Oceanside, CA last Saturday, and one of the graduating teams was a Facility Dog, Tommy III, along with therapists from the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care, better known as C5.

NMCSD C5 therapists April Walter, Jacque Moore, and Kristin Valent; Facility Dog Tommy III and his proud Puppy Raisers from Denver, Vanessa and Kevin O'Grady. Photo courtesy Carol-Ann DeMaio Goheen.
L to R: NMCSD C5 therapists April Walter, Jacque Moore, and Kristin Valent; Facility Dog Tommy III; and his proud Puppy Raisers from Denver, Vanessa and Kevin O’Grady. Photo courtesy Carol-Ann DeMaio Goheen.

This is a huge placement and a major … Read More

Apr 29, 2009

Just How Big the OEF/OIF Veteran Need for Service Dogs Could Be – And What Will Be Required from Us to Meet It

Al , , , Service Dogs

I can’t give you a definitive answer on how large the potential number of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) / Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veteran candidates for service dogs is – there are just way too many variables.

What I can do, though, is give you the official OEF/OIF casualty numbers and go from there:  almost 35,000 wounded warriors with varying levels of injuries, including around 900 amputees.

( http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/gwot_reason.pdf and http://www1.va.gov/vetdata/docs/4X6_fall08_sharepoint.pdf )

Now, if I just arbitrarily say the number of people who need service dogs is 1% of that … Read More

Apr 3, 2009

Air Force Amputee Reenlists

Al , , Veterans

TSgt Christopher Frost, an EOD guy who lost his right leg to an IED in Iraq, recentIy reenlisted:

Air Force amputee reenlists

Whole story is here:  “Don’t Call Him a Hero”.

The hard part for me is there are so many of these tremendous young wounded warriors who’ve given so much that I could never talk about them all or say enough.  I still come into contact with a lot of young active duty military people, especially Army troops at Fort Carson, many of whom know I’m an old retired guy and will … Read More

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