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Left to right: Gabby Carrelli, U.S. Marine Corps Retired Col. Stan Horton, Christina Pleasant and Catherine Piskurich gather at Spring Forest Middle's Veterans Day celebration with Astro, who will soon be trained as a service dog for a qualifying U.S. military veteran.
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The playful puppy joined two other service dogs in training, labradors Beau and Dude, at the 17th annual Veterans Day Celebration hosted at this west Houston campus.
Patriot Paws, the College Station, Texas,-based service dog training group, bought Astro through donations from Spring Forest Middle students, faculty and families. Patriot Paws has attended the veterans celebration for years.
As part of the school’s Astro fund-raising effort, students were able to name their retriever. Friday was his first campus event appearance., but based on his popularity may not be the last.
Astro will begin training for a later match with a returning veteran physically disabled or suffering from anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) issues. Nationally, Patriot Paws has about 60 service dogs in training, with its College Station branch sponsoring about 18 dogs and puppies.
“In the beginning, it was the dogs that really drew me in, but I quickly fell in love with the puppies and the overall program, especially the veterans. The veterans’ lives and the stories that they share about their service dogs is so important to me now,” said Texas A&M University student and Patriot Paws puppy trainer Jackie Fruit. She has worked with the group several years.
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| Left to right: SBISD Trustee J. Carter Breed, Army veteran Ed Dyer and Spring Forest’s program keynote speaker, U.S. Army veteran Katherine Meadows |
She joined the U.S. Army after her graduation through a ROTC commission She was commissioned in 2004. Her Iraqi military assignments were varied and included warehouse development and operations, soldier deployment, troop monitoring and movement, cargo delivery for five Army brigades, and logistics for future doctrine and force structure design.
Meadows retired medically from the U.S. Army in 2011. She now works for the Houston-based Defense Logistics Agency Energy Americas East. As a specialist in inventory management, she manages the bulk fuel distribution system in areas ranging from pipelines to tanker trucks for 22 fuel sites.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Today, the Army veteran officer is studying to earn a master’s degree in business administration and qualitative analytics through Indiana University, located in Bloomington, Ind.
In addition to the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, Meadows holds numerous military awards. They include the Army Commendation and Achievement medals, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon and the Combat Action Badge.
Masters of ceremony for this year’s Veterans Day Celebration were students, Ana Ramirez, Paige Clark, Ainsley Lewis and Catherine Piskurich. SBISD’s Naval Jr. ROTC students presented the colors.
Special music was provided by the Spring Forest Middle Orchestra, Star Spangled Banner; Stratford High’s Gavin Young, Reveille and Taps; Spring Forest Middle Symphonic Band, American Patrol; and Spring Forest Middle Choir, A Salute to Our Veterans.
Dozens of area veterans of all ages were honored inside the campus gym with an overwhelming and a sustained standing student ovation during the Procession of Veterans entry. Each veteran was also introduced, by name and military division. A special slide show honored them, too.
Bobcat sponsors included BBMC Mortgage; Jennings Orthodontics; Chick Fil A-Dairy Ashford; Laird Law Firm PC; Girish Bharwani, DDS; Leigh-Leigh’s Little Lagniappe; J. Carter Breed; Medi Weight Loss; Norton Creative; Hudella Real Estate Companies; and Heritage Texas Properties.
Donations were also made by Kolache Factory and Pro Shop Embroidery.
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