A Veteran’s Story

My name is Sgt. Mark Heimkes, U.S. Army Retired. My last tour of duty was in Iraq during 2009. Upon arriving home, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For the first couple years upon returning home I was mainly a recluse. I was unwilling to venture out unless I went with my wife, which was challenging since she traveled for work every week. I contacted a great organization named Soldiers Best Friend (SBF) about a service dog. It appeared they were having great success with pairing dogs and vets with PTSD. They recused a German Shepherd from the Arizona Humane Society and provided me the dog and training to meet my needs as my service dog.

I cannot say enough about what having Logan my service dog has done for me. Now I go out daily and actually will go to multiple places to shop. I even went to a shopping mall for the first time in over 5 years. Logan, besides being a great companion is a wonderful service dog. He provides the buffer I need from allowing people to get to close as well as watching my backside when I am in a room with many people.

Logan and I are on the go traveling the country together. Some of our adventures include: exploring Arizona on a weekend getaway, seeing my grandchildren in Missouri, visiting our Minnesota vacation home, enjoying the ocean in Daytona Beach, Florida, getting lucky in fabulous Las Vegas, and visiting friends in Denver, Colorado. Our future plans include a Hawaiian vacation and Alaskan cruise this fall, and if all goes as planned, cruising down the road this summer in our new motorhome.

So if you are out and about and happen to see us, say “Hi!” Logan and I are enjoying our freedom at last. Oh, and keep an eye out in the near future for Logan’s new children’s book, My Life as a Service Dog.