NAPLES, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — Guardian Angels is proud to announce that Brigadier General Donald C. Bolduc, United States Army, retired will be the keynote speaker at our Bark-A-Que fundraising event, being held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at N. Collier Regional Park in Naples, Florida.
After 32 years of active duty service to his country, in which he received two awards for valor, five Bronze Star medals, two Purple Hearts, led ten deployments, and survived both a bomb blast, numerous fire fights, and a helicopter crash, Bolduc, former Commander, Special Operations Command Africa, is hanging up his fatigues to take on perhaps his most important and challenging mission of advocating for the treatment and shedding the stigma of PTSD and mental health problems, both from within the US military as well as the general public.
His other awards and decorations include the Defense Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device, numerous foreign awards, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Special Forces Tab, and Ranger Tab.
Beyond his various positions and awards, nothing brings more meaning to Bolduc’s service than his latest mission to combat the stigmas around post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As one of the few military officers, and, at the time, the only active duty general officer on record, to openly discuss his own struggles with PTS, Bolduc has used his leadership position to change the conversation to one of understanding and acceptance through his own experiences.
Dubbed “Captain America” by his fellow officers and soldiers, Bolduc always put country first, and now looks to continue his service off the battlefield sharing his leadership mantra of “Mission, People, and Family” and his personal experiences with mental health to educate others.
He will be speaking on Saturday about the effect of PTSD on our modern military and introducing his new battle buddy, his ServiceDog, Victor.
The Bark-A-Que will also have the Ben Allen Band, LIVE in concert, great food provided by Mission BBQ, a fantastic Silent Auction, raffles and a chance to meet & greet with some of our Service Dog teams, to learn what they do, and how they help.
Event attendees are encouraged to RSVP before March 2nd. Tickets are $35.00 for adults, $15.00 for children 5-15, and Free for children under 5. Tickets will be available at the gate. Sponsorships and Silent Auction items are now being accepted. If interested in sponsoring our event, or donating a silent auction item, please contact Rachel at: redwing@medicalservicedogs.com
You can find more information, or purchase your tickets online at: http://www.medicalservicedogs.org/event/bark-que-2018/
If you have questions regarding the event, please call Rachel at (352) 857-1032 or e-mail redwing@medicalservicedogs.com for more information.
Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs is a 501(c)(3) Based in Florida that rescues, raises, trains and then donates individually trained medical service dogs to veterans and others who suffer from disabilities including PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, mobility issues and much more. There is no state or federal funding available for this critical life-saving program. Over the past 8 years, Guardian Angels has paired more than 220 individually trained medical service dogs with those in need; and with our help, we can help even more. Reserve your seat today. Learn more at: http://www.medicalservicedogs.org/
News Source: Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs Inc.
