Fallujah vet turns Medal of Heroism into a healing mission for fellow warriors with service dogs program

Marine seasoned Anthony Longo is acutely alert of the interior battles many veterans look agelong aft leaving the combat zone. He has besides experienced the healing that tin travel from having "man’s champion friend" arsenic a companion.

That is wherefore Longo, who served successful Fallujah, Iraq, and earned the Department of State’s Medal of Heroism successful Afghanistan, founded the Warriors Choice Foundation successful 2016 with the ngo of helping chap veterans heal.

In an interrogation with Fox News Digital, Longo explained that alternatively than relying solely connected medications oregon a one-size-fits-all attack to treatment, his instauration tailors attraction to idiosyncratic veterans done counseling, wellness retreats and a genuinely unsocial attraction called "cognitive K9 rehabilitation."

Through Warriors Choice K9 rehabilitation program, the radical matches veterans with Belgian Malinois breed work dogs specially bred and trained to assistance radical suffering from PTSD and different combat-related intelligence wellness challenges.

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Through Warriors Choice K9 rehabilitation program, the radical matches veterans with work dogs specially bred and trained to assistance radical suffering from PTSD and different combat-related intelligence wellness challenges. (U.S. Army National Guard photograph by Spc. Matthew A. Foster and Warriors Choice Foundation)

Since 2018, Warriors Choice has helped 72 veterans and matched 46 with their ain work dog.

The radical has adjacent bred a work canine named "Trump," who Longo said was "the best" and the hardest 1 to fto go." "Trump," the work dog, is present the companion to a 20-year special operations veteran, and Longo said helium feels "blessed" to beryllium a portion of "what that canine has helped that antheral through."

"You're seeing implicit lives transferring 180 degrees into a caller direction," helium said. "It’s man's champion person for a reason. I tin admit my canine sometimes a batch much than humans. And to person that transportation and the quality to enactment done analyzable issues together, it was a bully fit."

While the K9 attraction programme is not for everyone, Longo said that helium has seen unthinkable results, transforming veterans’ lives.

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Pictured connected the near and close is "Trump" the work dog. Longo said Trump was "the best" and the hardest 1 to fto go." Trump the work canine is present the companion to a 20-year peculiar operations veteran, and Longo said helium feels "blessed" to beryllium a portion of "what that canine has helped that antheral through."

Sitting by him during the interrogation was his ain K9 companion, "Bourbon," who helium said has "set the tone" successful his ain healing travel arsenic good arsenic laid the instauration for Warriors Choice’s K9 program.

"That dynamic betwixt handler and canine, I deliberation it adds conscionable a consciousness of much work beyond ourselves," helium explained. "There are times erstwhile I wanted to beryllium conscionable wholly near unsocial and isolated and not person to bash anything, but someone's got to instrumentality the canine out. Someone's got to enactment nutrient connected the table. There are things that person to beryllium done, I person to spell bash the training, I person to spell support a level oregon a modular that I've imposed connected myself to fundamentally clasp myself accountable for my actions and what I'm doing successful my day-to-day."

Beyond that, Longo explained that Bourbon has helped him summation a "true knowing of what I needed to bash for myself."

Though Longo said that warring against issues similar seasoned PTSD and suicide tin consciousness similar "trying to determination a mountain," he explained that the request could not beryllium much urgent. According to Warriors Choice, veterans are 1.5 times much apt to dice by suicide.

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A Warriors Choice Foundation work canine successful action. Longo said that "at the extremity of the day, you're present not for yourself, you're present for your brother." "You're present to supply idiosyncratic with an accidental and a accidental who's reaching retired for help."

"At the extremity of the day," said Longo, "you're present not for yourself, you're present for your brother."

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"You're present to supply idiosyncratic with an accidental and a accidental who's reaching retired for help. And each you got to bash is conscionable drawback on, bent on, and springiness your champion effort successful assisting them successful a clip of request due to the fact that you've been determination with them. You recognize what it's similar to beryllium successful those situations. You cognize the – I hatred to accidental it – the cognitive fog of what it's similar to beryllium overseas and to beryllium present and to beryllium much comfy overseas than you are astatine home."

"I wouldn't beryllium capable to bash it unless determination was occurrence progressive with it. And that's seeing guys staying retired of the ground."

Longo urged immoderate seasoned struggling with PTSD to scope out, saying, "We'll beryllium blessed to pass with you and assistance you successful mapping retired what is going to beryllium the champion way and absorption forward."