The Daily Beast - Disabled Veteran Service Dog Panzer - June 29, 2012

Army veteran Brad Schwarz uses his service dog Panzer to help him cope with issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he has experienced since returning from a 2008 tour in Iraq. In addition to suffering from PTSD Schwarz has memory loss related to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and he must walk with a cane because of vertebrae and nerve damage in his back and legs. Ten days before he was scheduled to rotate home from a 15-month deployment in Iraq, his second, the Humvee in which he was riding was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Of the 5 soldiers riding in the vehicle, which caught fire after the explosion, Schwarz was the only one to survive.

 

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Army veteran Brad Schwarz drives his service dog Panzer to be seen for a check up at the veterinary clinic in Palos Hills, Illinois.

 

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Army veteran Brad Schwarz plays with his three-year-old daughter Arabella and service dog Panzer at his home.

 

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Brad  plays with Panzer following a bath at Pack Leader Academy.

 

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Brad waits to start a training session with Panzer at the Pack Leader Academy.

 

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Brad Schwarz drives his service dog Panzer to be seen for a check-up at a veterinary clinic.

 

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Brad Schwarz, his service dog Panzer, and his girlfriend Erica Mason wait for the start of  "The Movement," a documentary film about five disabled athletes who learned to ski despite their disabilities.

 

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Brad Schwarz brings his service dog Panzer for a check up at Southwest Animal Care Center.

 

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Panzer gets water from an usher while the two were attending a Chicago Cubs game with a group of veterans from the Wounded Warrior Project at Wrigley Field.

 

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Brad  gives Panzer a kiss following a bath at Pack Leader Academy.