Once home, the two passed an obedience course and Hero earned his canine good citizen rating after working in public with distractions like food, people, and other dogs. I’d be cooking, or in the bathroom and there he was. “We started with ‘forced bonding,’” she said. Walton Beach, Fla., Luke began working with him at the “What’s Up Dog” kennel in Santa Rosa Beach, where He had initially been trained. Paired with Hero by “Healing Paws for Warriors,” an organization founded and run by Mike Arena in Ft. “I didn’t shake.” She was silent for a while. But I didn’t.” Looking at him, tears brightened her eyes.
“Early on, I was somewhere with him, and had been worried that I’d shake. I thought it was the medicines, but there had been lots of different ones and the shaking didn’t go away. I’d get so nervous and anxious, my hands and legs would shake terribly. “Just sleeping, I’d have horrible nightmares. There were so many triggers to her PTSD, Luke said. Also, after adopting our boys, we’d had fertility treatments and I had given birth to twin girls. My kids were young, just 7, 5, and 3 at the time. “There are tumors in my bones.” Trying to deal with the initial diagnosis, she reached out. Was she in remission? Luke shook her head and Hero, ever alert, looked up. To have had cancer for so long and yet appear to be healthy seemed unusual. That’s when you end up going backwards.” Her best medicine But when you can’t get over it, you can’t go forward. And that’s where the D part comes in, the ‘disorder.’ Because anyone who has had a traumatic experience has post-traumatic stress, PTS. I had been able to compartmentalize it, but then I couldn’t anymore. “When you have a sexual trauma … at some point it just breaks you. But the bulk of my issues come from what happened to me.“ She hesitated. So when I was having emotional times and things were not good, it was easy to put it on the cancer. The topic is difficult territory for anyone. But what if that’s who the perpetrator is? You try going above that superior, then you’re the one in the wrong. “Back when I served, your first sergeant would be your judge and jury. But Luke noted the systemic flaw that, in her case, allowed the abuse to go on. Currently the military is engaged in recognizing and dealing with the once-hidden extent of this problem. She was referring to the sexual assault she endured. Ours is still a very male oriented military.” I had great experiences, met great people, but then I had those awful experiences, and so much trauma. “I was excited and proud to join and would do it again. “My military service left me with a lot of mixed feelings,” Luke said, when asked to evaluate the time she was in. But later I decided to transfer to the Air Force and at first was in the reserves.” She married (the couple later divorced) and moved with her husband and children down to Florida’s Elgin AF Base in 2001, working in communications. And we did night ops, things you’d never get to do as a civilian. I loved the looks on people’s faces when they saw this little red-headed girl driving a massive water tanker. “We’d bring purified water where it was needed and fill huge bladders. “You tell me that and you might as well be giving me the goahead. Other people told me I wouldn’t make it.” She grinned. How did her family feel about her going in at such a young age? “My mom was supportive and signed my papers. Now, ever since 9/11, patriotism has grown.”
I’d go to the recruiter and see who in my community was joining, who I could talk to about serving.
This was well before 9/11, and the military wasn’t popular at that time. But I wanted to get out into the world and do something meaningful for my country. “My grandfather and uncle had served but never talked about it, so I knew very little about the military. “I’m forty now, but I grew up in a small Vermont town,” Luke said. But in early 2017, hope trotted in when a handsome black German Shepherd became her service canine.Īfter meeting the two and passing Hero’s “sniff test”–which is a bit like getting a security clearance–I learned that Luke’s initial enlistment at 17 had been in the Army’s Massachusetts National Guard. The anxiety she suffered devastated her life for years, keeping her isolated. Luke’s PTSD was the result of sexual assaults during her 16-1/2 years of service. In my case, it was to interview medically retired Veteran Air Force Ssgt Heidi Luke for this magazine. As a volunteer at AHERO, you might be asked to help out in interesting ways.
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