News & Features
Mary Cortani Recognized as a Cal Vet Trailblazer
California is home to nearly 163,000 women veterans, making California the second largest population of women veterans in the country next to Texas. As a proud member and advocate for this community, our founder and executive director, Mary Cortani, was humbled to be...
Veteran Ramon and His Service Dog Huey Win the Purina Visible Impact Award
Meet Huey, the PTSD service dog providing life-changing support for his U.S. Army veteran owner. ST. LOUIS, Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Veteran's Day, Purina Dog Chow and award-winning recording artist and actor Anthony Ramos are proud to introduce this...
Veteran Ramon and His Service Dog Huey – Purina Visible Impact Award Finalists
Huey and Ramon's Story - Please Vote for Huey and Ramon HERE After spending 17 years in the Army, military life was all Ramon knew. But when he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury from events that occurred in Iraq, Ramon’s...
Alex Gries & Sherman – Stories About Veterans & Service Dogs
https://vimeo.com/145213481 U.S. Army veteran Alex Gries served in Iraq. Struggling with the aftermath of combat, Alex partnered and trains with her beloved service dog Sherman at Operation Freedom Paws. Alex is finding her "new normal" with Sherman as he is by her...
Carlos Vera & Ruthie – Stories About Veterans & Service Dogs
https://vimeo.com/163482203 At age 18, veteran Carlos Vera enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served for six years. In 1992, he deployed to Somalia, Operation Restore Hope, and was among the first troops to arrive to that conflict. Poorly equipped and on call 24/7,...
Todd & His Service Dog Ivy “I Am Not Broken”
I am now six months free of my self-made hell and have been given an opportunity to look back, reflect, and share with others about the time leading up to my nightmare. It’s interesting that on the day I finally decided to put my experience down on paper, I received a...
Jeri & Curly Everything I Need to Thrive
Our client Jeri is an Army veteran who experiences post-traumatic stress related to her military service. Here she shares in her own words her healing journey with us. Prior to Operation Freedom Paws, I had tried various therapeutic modalities with some success;...
Julie Kirk & Mal – Stories About Veterans & Service Dogs
Vietnam-era veteran Julie Kirk Vietnam-era veteran Julie Kirk joined the Army at age 18. She trained as a medic and worked on the surgical floor of the hospital at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri taking care of injured soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. Several...
Chris Dolan & April – Stories About Veterans & Service Dogs
https://vimeo.com/159424004 U.S. Army veteran Chris Dolan was deployed three times, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. After coming home, it was only after a hospitalization that the Army finally diagnosed him with PTSD. Eventually, he learned about service dogs...