A Service Dog and Veteran PTSD Awareness Event

Several event goers stop to take a picture after a hike on Katy Trail at the Augusta trailhead in Augusta, Missouri.

Submitted photo

For several years now, the thought of veteran suicide has been on my mind, and back in February it came upon my heart to do something — however small — to help fight against it.

Steven Bender

After months of planning, a number of us came together on Sept. 15 at Klondike Park in St. Charles County for an awareness event and to help raise money for Battle Buddy Service Dogs of Kansas City. If you have Facebook, you can look up the event searching for the term “River Bottom Ruck.”

Three service dogs and nearly 50 people participated in this first-time event. Highlights included speakers Steve Hamblin of Cape Girardeau, Brandi Puchas of Kansas City, Mark Heimkes of Battle Buddy and Rich Siebert, who lost his son to suicide. Hamblin’s video is on the Ruck page, and I encourage you to view it.

We also held raffles that day to help raise money for Battle Buddy, and the donors included Cabela’s, First Spear, Rex Specs, The Range — St. Louis West, Pet Cot Company, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company and Cool Canine All Natural Dog Treats of Shell Knob, Missouri, to name a few.

Brooks Armory of O’Fallon, Missouri, donated a custom-built 6.5 Creedmoor rifle, and that raffle will continue until Nov. 7. By the time we’re done with fundraising, we should have nearly $2,500 going toward one service dog for a veteran diagnosed with PTSD.

After the event speakers had finished, a number of us went on a hike — or ruck — on Katy Trail. We did a group photo at the Augusta trailhead (pictured).

This event has inspired me to begin working on a larger service dog-related event for next year, and if it comes together as hoped, it will be awesome.

Service dogs can be trained to help veterans in a number of ways, including being a buffer in crowded public places, helping wake someone during nightmares and being the eyes and ears for a human who just wants to relax.

Service dogs can be expensive, and there has to be a bond created between the canine/human pair. Veterans with service dogs tend to manage PTSD better than those without.

If we can get one service dog to a veteran with PTSD issues, then it’s possible the symptoms can be mitigated, and ultimately, there may be one less veteran suicide.