Honor, Support, and Serve Our Veterans
2024 Recipient
As a disabled veteran living with PTSD and TBI, it’s hard to put into words how much it means when someone truly shows up for you. Tango Mike Mike did just that. They gifted me a $1,000 Menards card to help build a deck—a place where I can breathe, heal, and spend time with my family. Their generosity isn’t just financial—it’s personal, compassionate, and deeply rooted in understanding the invisible wounds veterans carry. This foundation doesn’t just talk about support—they are support. I’ll forever be grateful.
Supporting Veterans in Our Community
CB's Story
Let’s start with, What Is a Service Dog?
A service dog helps a person with a disability to lead a more independent life. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service dog is “a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.” “Disability” is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including people with a history of such an impairment, and people perceived by others as having such an impairment. A service dog is trained to take a specific action that helps an individual with a disability participate in daily life more fully.
I knew I was retiring from the Army and wanted a dog as a companion and service dog, provided it could meet the training requirements and the necessary doganality to be considered a Service Dog. I was also ensuring I was qualified, deserving, and in need of a service dog to assist me with living a more independent and fulfilling life. In December 2020, Moose was finally in my care, and that is the day everything would start to change. At only 10 weeks old, he lay in the corner of a prosthodontist’s office for 8 hours for three days straight without making a noise, fuss, or accident, and we knew there was something special about him. This dog has saved my life and does everything I want or would like him to do. He gave me a different life and purpose, and he is there to assist me in dealing with my shortcomings and challenges. Moose is intelligent enough to know what he needs to do when the vest is on and knows when the vest is off, he gets to be more relaxed and can let his doganality show. Service Dogs save lives. Dogs in general can bring purpose and life to any situation, and mine sure does. We are a team.
CB., Sergeant First Class (Ret.), with 24 years of service and five overseas deployments