Al Franken: A small way to give back to veterans who gave so much
Posted in From Al's Desk, News Clips on November 16th, 2009In January, I met a wounded vet with severe post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, at an Inaugural event in Washington. Luis Montalvan had been an Army intelligence officer in 2003, when he was gravely wounded in Anbar Province. When I met Luis, he was walking with a cane and accompanied by his service dog, a beautiful golden retriever named Tuesday. Luis told me that without Tuesday he couldn’t have made it to the event.
Tuesday can anticipate Luis’s panic attacks by changes in his breathing or perspiration and then avert them by nuzzling Luis and calming him down. Tuesday reminds his master to take his medications. He can wake Luis from debilitating dreams. After hearing about all that Tuesday does for Luis, not the least of which is elevating his sense of well-being, I made it my business to learn everything I could about service dogs and veterans.













