Shannon Walker was a professional dog trainer for years when a veteran named Kevin W. came to her wanting his personal dog, Sammy, to be trained as a service animal.

“It was business as usual, but things really started to change for me when I learned about the suicide rate [among veterans],” said Walker, whose father had served in the Korean War. “Dad always said ‘Freedom isn’t free’ and I never knew what that meant.”

As Walker began working with Sammy, she found that Kevin had still been paying the price for freedom. Kevin would have panic attacks, and Walker learned that of the other veterans who had returned home with Kevin following his last fire fight, six had completed suicide while on American soil.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says that the most recent data shows that ther

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